Tantei KID
by Disconsolate Mist
Summary: You start to take things in stride when you're chasing a jewel that grants immortality and you have a witch in your class. Even a obviously young child who just happens to be a high school detective. And this high school detective just happens to look almost exactly like you. On top of it all, this "child" just happens to be taking an alias as your younger brother. An AU!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This story may be a little out there, but I wanted to explore this idea _so bad_. And, writers block on absolutely everything. Including this, but it is easier to fight through a new story than to try and force your way through continuing one. For me, at least.

Edit: I went through this the following morning and reviewed, revised, and edited it. In case you were wondering.

On that note, thank you, dear reader, for trying this story out. I hope it pleases you!

Japanese vocabulary that will eventually appear in this story **:**

 **Tantei: Detective**

 **Meitantei: Great Detective**

 **Hakase: Professor**

 **Baka: Idiot/stupid/jerk/the list goes on**

 **Ahou:** _ **see baka**_

 **Ba'arou:** _ **see baka**_

That should be it, I may add more as I go, just figured it would be helpful! :3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, period.

* * *

 **Chapter One: Tiny Tantei**

His breath came out in shuddering gasps, and his heart beat quickly in his shrunken chest as he ran, small feet pounding on the concrete sidewalk. The pounding seemed much too loud in the next to silent environment as it echoed around him. He was running who knows where, just trying to escape the police who had discovered him as he was coming out of his unconscious state. Figures that the savior of the police force would have to run from the police.

The wind howled, blowing cold night air into Shinichi's face, stinging it and shifting his hair around causing a few strands to fall in his face only to be pushed away again by another gust of wind. The stars sparkled elegantly alongside the large full moon glowing a brilliant white in the otherwise dark night sky, making for quite the eye-catching scene, but Shinichi was too wrapped up in his panicked escape to pause and look.

Sweat was slipping down his face, falling in little droplets. His running was slowing, and his shrunken body drooped in exhaustion. Every breath he took felt forced, and his dry throat burned with each gasping intake of air. He couldn't run any longer and he paused, panting heavily as he checked around himself, turning a full circle to make sure no one was following him.

There was not another soul in sight causing Shinichi to relax a little as the tension in his shoulders subsided, and he leaned against the lampost nearest to him trying to catch his gasping breath.

He put his hands on his knees using the pole to help keep himself upright. He then looked up letting the cool wind blow his sweat-soaked hair, and taking this breather to look up at the twinkling stars. They were honestly a handsome sight alongside the full white moon. He then pulled his gaze away to look around. He needed to get his bearings and try to estimate how far he had gotten before he had to take a break. His stamina was lower in his now shrunken body, so he was sure he couldn't have gotten far.

He was by a small park that had five leafy trees, one an oak, and two wood benches. It took him a moment to recognize the place, but he soon realized that he wasn't far from Tropical Land at all, as the park was only a little less than a kilometer from the amusement park. He would need to get moving soon if he didn't want to risk police officers finding him.

He let his head droop down, still catching his breath, and stayed there for a moment, even after he was sure his breath was caught, at least most of the way. Then, he took another minute to gaze up again at the twinkling stars overhead. They looked so peaceful, sparkling carelessly in the cloudless night sky. It really didn't match the mood, but it did seem to help calm him a little.

Shinichi took a couple more deep breaths, then straightened himself up, trying to shake off the tenseness he felt in his sore muscles. He stretched a little, getting himself prepared to run some more, and pinpointed a water fountain in the park that he could drink from. He still saw no sign that the police had followed him, but he should still get a move on as one could never be too safe.

He swayed a little as he tried to move his tired legs, but he managed to get to the water fountain and drink some of the cool, icy water it provided. Once that was over with, he let out a sigh of relief. Now that he was hydrated, he could keep going for quite a bit longer. He should probably stop by his parent's mansion first to see if he could find any help. After that... Well... He'd just have to figure it out.

1412

Shinichi clung to the metal bars of the fence outside of the place he lived, his many sizes too large clothes making it hard to climb the rather slippery gate. He had the sleeves and pant legs rolled up, and it had helped for running, but climbing seemed to be a different story as his rolled up sleeves and pan legs came undone every time he tried to move upwards. They rubbed against the metal, making it almost impossible and highly dangerous to climb the gate and try to get it open or try and get to the other side. Basically, no matter what he tried, he would end up getting hurt.

Cursing, Shinichi slid down the poles, a sour look on his face. He couldn't even get into his own house, dang it! This whole situation just sucked. What exactly was he supposed to do? He could try the Hakase's, he guessed, but he really didn't want to get anyone involved. He didn't really know what in the world he had been thinking when he had thought about finding help here. He had realized by now that those people whom had shrunk him were most likely part of some organized crime ring. They had poison on them, after all, and from what they said, it sounded as if they, or someone who was part of their group, had created it, which meant that they had enough money to buy some high tech supplies, which lead to the thought that they were smart enough to get that money, which pretty much meant _dangerous_. In other words, yeah, Shinichi wasn't getting anyone involved unnecessarily. Especially not people close to him.

But, that left him with nowhere to go. He didn't have any allies, and the only thing he could do was run. He had to keep going, to get away, to try and find someone he could stay with, someone who had no idea who he was, someone that he could fool into thinking that he was just a normal kid. He had to, so he could try and catch this crime ring, and turn them in then somehow try and find something that would undo the effect the poison took on him. Or, maybe he could go into hiding until he was strong enough to fight on his own, though that time would probably never come if he did that. He didn't even want to get a stranger involved, but he seemed to have no choice, as if he didn't find someone he could stay with, he would surly starve to death, or collapse from the exhaustion of constantly trying to hide then be found by some random stranger anyway, so no matter how much he hated it, he would have to involve and innocent bystander. Hopefully, he would be able to leave them without them ever knowing anything about this ordeal, and defeat the crime ring before the crime ring found out about what had really happened to him and who was involved. Time to turn on those acting skills he inherited from his mother.

Shinichi then took a brief moment, still keeping his pace, to wonder why the poison hadn't killed him like it was made to do, but shrunk him instead. They said they had never tested it on humans before, which meant they had either never tested it, or had tested it on animals. The latter was the most likely from their words, but it was too soon to jump to conclusions on that, not that it really mattered. Though, if it had only been tested on animals, why had they used it on him before figuring out how it worked on humans? If they were an organized crime ring, surely they had other methods of killing in a silent way. Also, he was pretty sure he had screamed at some point. If they were so worried about a gunshot, why hadn't they been worried about screams? Were they just in a rush and not thinking straight? Were they not as smart as they had seemed? The one with the long hair had seemed incredibly intelligent, and Shinichi would be surprised if it was just some basic mistake.

On that note, did the poison kill humans at all, or had he just been hit with some rare side affect? Because, if it was a side affect, he expected it would be much harder to find an antidote. He would need to figure that out. All these questions tumbled around in his brain, staying perfectly unanswered.

1412

The night was wearing thin, and Shinichi still hadn't made much progress from when he had reached his house, having to stop almost every ten minutes to take a breather. At least, he didn't think he was making much progress.

Guilt was also starting to worm at him, making his stomach churn. He felt guilty he had left Ran like that, most likely to never see her again, unless he magically managed to undo this feat of what seemed like science-fiction. The Hakase was bound to be worried. Other than his parents, though, who would probably find out from Hakase, come here because they were worried, then soon leave because if they stayed in one place for too long they got antsy, trusting Hakase to let them know if he was found or if he was dead, there was really not much of anyone else who would be extremely worried about him. It was almost a sad thought, really.

Okay, Megure-keibu would probably be extremely worried, but that was about it, right? Sonoko might get worried. It would be more for Ran's sake than his if she did, but it was a definite "maybe" on whether she would truly care. Or he could be completely wrong and she would care. He really didn't understand girls all that well when it came into how they felt towards him, as much as he hated to admit that.

He wouldn't be able to let those he cared for know he was alive, because the sheer knowledge could put them in potential danger. He knew enough about organized crime rings to know they would want him and anyone who had potentially been connected to him and could have learned something from him dead. They would kill without a second thought as to whether they really knew about their crime ring or not. Basically, the ones he cared for were in enough trouble as it was, just being acquaintances with him. The crime ring still might spare their lives at this point, as the ones he loved hadn't known he was alive, but it was very unlikely. The men in black wouldn't want to risk it, and wouldn't know for sure whether they were lying or not. He wasn't dumb, he could figure this much out on his own.

Shinichi continued on, these thoughts rolling in his head. Now his only goal was to get as far as possible, to escape the city and find somewhere that the crime ring might be fully unconnected with.

1412

The sun was starting to rise, causing the stars to disappear and the dark sky to graduate into shades of pink, purple, and orange. It was quite beautiful, but Shinichi was too tired to try and pay attention to it, plus he was busy deciding whether he should hide somewhere and get some rest. He was leaning more towards "yes", because, otherwise, he could end up passing out from sheer exhaustion, and being found by some stranger. That would not be ideal in the least. The only problem was, he felt like he still wasn't far enough yet. He wanted to be as far as he could go before-

Shinichi collapsed to his knees, pants coming fast from his mouth. Yeah. He should hide somewhere and get some rest. He could continue on in the morning.

He pulled himself back to his feet, ignoring the shaking in his legs. He slowed the steady jogging pace he had kept up with brief brakes for most of the night to a walk. He wasn't going to be able to go any faster at this point. Shinichi looked around, trying to find a reasonable hiding place. There had to be something.

He quickly realized he had no idea where he was. He didn't recognize any landmarks, and he was pretty sure he had never been in this area before, and if he had, it hadn't been recently or too often. Maybe like once or twice, but that would be about it.

That just made this ordeal all the harder, as he was trying to hide in unfamiliar terrain, but if he didn't find a hiding place soon, people would come out and start asking him questions, wondering why a boy was out so early in clothes that were obviously quite a few sizes too big for him. He had already gotten enough stares from the people who had been out during the night, though fortunately, none of the people had seemed to care enough to try and ask him what he was doing out so late in such baggy clothes.

After a bit of wandering around the area, trying to look like a normal, curious child, and utterly failing in his opinion, Shinichi finally found a decent hiding place. There was a pile of junk in an ally between a large apartment complex and a house, and there was an empty box turned upside down next to the pile, the box being near the front of the ally. Okay, not the best hiding place, but people were starting to come out, and were giving him curious looks. He had to go with the closest thing at hand, which was the upside down box.

He walked nonchalantly over to the pile of twisted broken bikes and broken pieces of cars, which also occupied a couple of other rusted metal things and a couch, humming a little tune, tilting his head in the air, and smiling, then looked around quickly and carefully to make sure no one was watching.

When he was satisfied that there were no eyes on him, he dove under the box, which was just big enough to hide his child sized body. Good, he could finally get some semi-proper rest. He sighed in sheer relief, curling up in the dark space and closing his eyes gently, basking in the fact that he could finally relax after his night full of tense running and exhaustion. His breathing slowly grew steady, and he hugged his knees as close to him as possible, letting the sleeves of his shirt and coat drape over his cold hands. At least he wasn't claustrophobic.

He then quickly fell into a deep dreamless sleep in the shade inside of the overturned box.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Wow! Thanks so much guys! I didn't expect this story to gain popularity so fast at all. It means a lot to me, so thanks again! This chapter is relatively short, but not that short so, yay?

Also, I am updating this, because I still have writers block on the other stories, but for this one, the ideas are running wild and free, or at least more so than the other stories, and I must write! So, yep!

Have a chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Kawabata Shārokku**

Kuroba Kaito was taking a different route to school today. No, not because he was scared of the original route, because there was a terrifying girl walking it. He just felt like it. Yep, that's why. He needed change every now and then. It was very much not because he was trying to avoid a childhood friend who was burning with rage and a mop. (On that note, who carried a mop to school, anyway? Apparently Aoko did.) Nope, definitely not the reason, that would be wimpy, and not like him in the least. Nope. Not like him at all.

He simply wanted a change of scenery. Yes, that was the true reason behind him deciding to take a different route to school, even though it was about ten minutes longer, and he was probably going to be a bit late if he didn't speed up.

But, he didn't _want_ to speed up. He just wanted to keep lazily walking and enjoying one, no, the only reason he had come this route. The sky was a beautiful shade of baby blue, with wonderful puffy white clouds, and a large yellow sun beating heat into the air after all, and the warm morning was making him a bit woozy.

Sure the wind was pretty bad, but it just made the trees sway in the most eye-catching way.

He let out a large yawn, covering his gaping mouth with a single hand, the one that was not holding his school bag that held a textbook, a regular book, a couple of notebooks, a few pencils, along with some large erasers, and a handful of supplies for some basic magic tricks (or rather large pranks, whichever you prefer), which happened to be his right hand, not that that mattered much.

As he was walking, he passed an apartment complex. To the right of the apartment complex was a white house. In between the apartment complex and the house, was a crowd of people, all talking to each other and pointing enthusiastically at something.

Kaito paused his gate for a moment and gazed over at the crowd. There had to be at least twenty-five people, more or less. Kaito's first thought was _I should so prank them. That would be epic!_ Then as he gazed for a little longer his second thought was, _what is the commotion about anyway? Guess I should check it out._ And he nonchalantly walked over to the crowd, curiosity sparking in his indigo eyes and his bag slung over his shoulder.

When he reached the crowd, he noticed they were saying something along the lines of; "poor child," "he looks so scared! We should call the police," "Yes I think that would be best, Naomi," and so on, some voices sounding like they would if they were talking to an injured puppy.

Kaito pushed through the crowd, guessing that this 'child' had drawn out most of the people here from the apartment complex. Someone dialed a number; he could hear three small _beeps_ one after another. Probably that 'Naomi' woman who had said she was calling the police. Why didn't someone just take the child to the police station? Wouldn't that be easier for everyone? It was just kind of strange.

When Kaito managed to get to the front of the crowed, pushing and shoving people, despite some fierce protests from the people in it, he stopped and stared. The child appeared to be male. He was tiny, and looked honestly kind of puny. It resembled him as a child, the large blue eyes and the facial structure all pretty much the same, but something was off. The child was standing there, (he could only be around six or maybe seven, but he was so small he looked like a four-year-old) looking braced to either flee or fight, whichever happened to come first. There was also something in his eyes. A deep intelligence that he had never seen in any child, and that intelligence was combined with something dangerous. Something that made him seem like a hunted animal. Plus, he was wearing clothes that clearly didn't fit him in the least, but Kaito wasn't going to question that. Things happened, and he had a feeling the child wouldn't tell him if he did decide to ask. No, this wasn't and couldn't be any normal child. Not that he knew all that much about children.

The child also looked terribly exhausted and stiff, which could mean a few things, and most had to do with exercising too much, but from the look Kaito had noticed in his dull blue eyes, and how even though his body was stiffened, it still drooped in a way, he had probably been running from something at least most of the night. The question was, from _what_. The child looked up at him, and suddenly, their blue eyes met, and something sparked between them, almost an understanding, and Kaito had the sudden feeling he was meant to take this child. That he couldn't leave him there, that he couldn't let him be taken by the police, couldn't allow anyone else to take him.

It confused him as to why he felt this way. Maybe it was because this child's situation reminded him of how he had to be when he was Kaito Kid, somehow, someway, running and being chased by something, people trying to send him to the police. Or maybe it was because they looked so dang similar. It could also be because he was merely curious about the child's situation, or maybe it was because he looked like he was a trapped animal. There were so many reasons, Kaito realized, that he could have to take this child, but none of them seemed quite right.

Kaito then, and almost automatically, turned to the group of people and raised his hands into the air, standing tall. "I'll take him! You can all go now!" He announced to the crowd, and the people all kind of just stared at him in shock for a few moments in unison, which was, quite honestly, extremely creepy.

"What about the police?" The woman, Naomi, asked him, holding her phone in one hand.

"I'll get him to the police, don't worry about a thing," Kaito smiled a brilliant white toothed smile, trying to reassure the crowd.

The crowd looked up at him, a few people raising eyebrows. "Your only a school boy! And you need to get to school! Let one of the adults take the child," someone in the crowd shouted skeptically, and Kaito sighed mentally. They didn't think he was capable. They were probably right too, but oh well. He was going to take this child. And maybe prank him when they got home, if he wasn't already completely freaked out.

"I'm more capable than you think. Please let me take him. My mother always wanted a second child, and if he doesn't have somewhere to go, we can adopt him. I bet most of you can't promise that!" Yes, the thing about his mother wanting a second child was a straight out lie, but she wasn't around much anyway, so, he was sure she would be fine with him taking in a strange child. Hopefully.

Some people in the crowd grumbled at this, but they slowly dissipated, filing out of the space between the two buildings. Only one or two people lingered, not seeming to want to leave the child with a teenager.

Kaito looked down at the boy who was behind him, and beamed at the kid. "You're coming with me. I'll just say I felt ill today," he said, and grabbed the boy's arm, even though the boy jumped around a bit, trying desperately to avoid his grasp. He started to speed walk away, dragging the boy behind him before anyone could protest further. "Now, tell me, what's your name?"

1412

Shinichi ignored the teenager's question, pretending he hadn't heard it, not quite having an alias on hand. He stumbled after the teenager, the grip on his arm was vice-like, and the teenager's strides were large, or at least much bigger than Shinichi's were at the moment, so Shinichi ended up letting himself be dragged along, having no other choice, as if he tried to walk at his own pace, he would just end up being literally dragged, and it was impossible to escape the tight grip. So, he ended up jogging to keep up with the teenager.

If only the wind hadn't blown the box off of him, and that lady hadn't screamed when she saw him sleeping in the ally between the apartment complex and the house. Seriously, was she terrified of children or something? Then, he wouldn't be in this stupid situation!

Her scream had been incredibly high pitched and loud, drawing people out of the apartment complex. The people had quickly latched on to him, surrounding him in a large group, exclaiming about how "so dang cute" he was and how "the tuft makes him even more adorable!" It had been embarrassing, idiotic, and annoying, how they talked to him like he was a baby. Seriously.

Then this teenager had come barging in, and all hope of trying to avoid the police vanished. Plus, he now needed an alias. A cover story too. When that teenager had come up to the front of the crowd, though, geez. He had almost had a heart attack! He had completely thought that he as a teenager had come walking to the front of the crowd. He had been so terrified that the teenager had been _himself_ , meaning the poison did something else completely strange, until he noticed the extremely messy hair, the school uniform, and the mischievous twinkle the teenager had in his eye. The mischievous look being what really tipped him off, as it had been something Shinichi would never have, unless he was catching a criminal, but even then, it was stretching it.

Fortunately for him, it was impossible for people to just _shrink_ , at least, in people's minds. It made it easier to hide the fact he was actually a should-be-dead teenager, for sure, as this teenager was clearly at least some-what smart, and he might be able to figure it out if it wasn't impossible for people to shrink.

"Tell me your name," the teenager prompted again, and Shinichi freaked for a second, wondering what he should call himself. Sharokku immediately came to mind. Fun thing about aliases is that they could be a name you had always wanted to be called. You could also choose the name of someone or something (made up person, or not) and take their name. He just needed a believable last name. He had always enjoyed work by Edogawa Rampo, and was thinking of using 'Edogawa', but the only problem was Edogawa was a more rare name, which could, maybe, be used against him in some way. Though, it was unlikely, as the name did exist and was used, but due to the fact it was just a fairly rare and widespread surname, it just made it all the easier to help lead towards the fact that it was an alias. One could never be too safe.

The author Kawabata Yasunari then came to mind. His works were good (for not being mystery) and he had been the first Japanese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Kawabata was also a fairly common surname, especially in Japan. Kawabata would probably be a good choice, Shinichi decided, happy with his name choice.

Shini-no, now he was Sharokku, looked up at the teenager who was patiently waiting for him to answer. "I'm Kawabata Sharokku, Niisan!" He said in a small child's voice and smiled up at him brightly, trying his best to appear as a child.

"That's an interesting name! Sharokku, huh? My name is Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire at your service," the teenager stopped and kneeled down next to him, taking his hand and kissing it. Shinichi refused the urge to tug his had away, taking the light peck on the back of his hand. Kaito smiled at him, and then stood up again. "Am I taking you to the police? Tell me your story, and I will decide. If your lost or a runaway, I'm afraid I'll have to take you, but I get this strange feeling that is not the case." Kaito had to be on to him. The words he used said it plain and clear, and that meant that this cover story had to be well thought out and believable.

"My mother and I were having a day together yesterday, as she didn't have to work like she usually does everyday of the week. When we were walking across the street, a car hit my mother, and she pushed me out of the way just in time. I ran and I soon became tired so I decided to go to sleep under the overturned box. All my other family members are dead. My dad died because he got sick, my grandmothers and grandfathers died of age and illness, and I have no aunts, uncles, cousins, or anything like that that we are aware of. No siblings either," or just the first thing that popped out of his mouth. He hadn't even realized he was speaking till the whole story had just exploded out of his mouth. Sharokku smiled up at him, trying to look childish while cursing on the inside. He would have to go with it for now, damn it. He just hoped it was believable.

Kaito stared at him, shocked. "All that, and your not sad?" Sherlock's expression froze on his face, and he resisted the urge to smile nervously. He managed to clear the startled look away a second later, and he looked up at Kaito, with large puppy-dog eyes. Dang, he had forgotten the fact that he should be _sad_. It was so obvious, but he had managed to look happy while saying that. He thought quickly, trying to cover up his mistake.

"I was just trying to be strong, Kaito-niichan! Why are you so critical?" He put his face in his hands and pretended to cry, forcing out racketing sobs. He wasn't good enough to get actual tears, though. This was also terribly embarrassing, and he supposed that if he knew this person, it might be hard for him to do. With the stranger's life already being in danger from just contacting him, he needed to keep up a believable child act, and he couldn't drop it, or this person would be in great danger because of him.

"I-That's not what I meant! I-I'm sorry, please stop crying!" Shinichi, no, Sharokku (he needed to get that down, so he responded to 'Sharokku' not 'Shinichi') kept fake sobbing, adding a wail for good measure. This was really, terribly, embarrassing, and he was now also trying to hide a blush he had developed from the situation.

1412

Kaito wasn't sure what to do. Maybe trying to take a child in had been a mistake. He couldn't just ignore the look Sharokku had in his eyes, though! It had been too grown up to be on a child's face. It was because of that look, and the fact that Sherlock hadn't cried when he first told his story, that had caused Kaito to ask the question about him being sad.

Now he couldn't help but regret it. He had obviously just caused the child grief. Aoko would kill him if she ever found out about this.

Though, the sobs _did_ seem to be forced, but Kaito hadn't had much experience with children, so he wasn't completely sure. He had a feeling the kid was lying, but, again, lack of experience with kids caused him to question whether he was being fair in assuming the child was lying to him.

Well, now he had to balance keeping his life as Kaito Kid secret from a child, as well as _take care_ of the brat. How had he decided to accept this challenge, again? Why? Now that he thought about it, it was really quite a stupid decision. With the child living with him, it put the child in danger if he found out that Kaito was in fact Kaito Kid. He was being hunted by Snake and whatever group Snake belonged to, after all, and a child shouldn't be involved in that.

But, he had made to decision, so he had to go through with it. Now that he knew the child, and made the promise to care for him if he had nowhere to go, which he clearly didn't, he couldn't just leave him hanging. Maybe he could get Aoko to help. She loved children, after all, and he betted she would fall head over heals for this child, because he was so unbelievably _small_ , and the tuft on his head did make him look absolutely adorable.

Eventually, after Sharokku's sobbing had subsided (apparently, Kaito just needed to give it time), though the boy still sustained a sad look on his face, they started walking again, Kaito getting up from his crouching position next to the child and stretching his stiff legs from crouching so long. Kaito than slowed his pace considerably, so the child could keep up, only falling a little behind the much bigger teenager.

Kaito looked down at the child who had had slowed his stride for so he could keep up on his tiny legs, and asked, "How old are you?" Kaito looked back up at the path in front of him.

The child took a moment to reply, but when he did, his voice was high pitched and childish, and it almost sounded happy, his earlier sobs seeming to have been forgotten. "I just turned seven!"

Kaito smiled a little. The way he spoke was just too _cute_. "Oh, really? When's your birthday?" The child didn't reply immediately, seeming to be thinking, which made Kaito wonder further if the child was telling him the truth.

"It was November 7," the tiny child replied after a minute of silence, then he heard feat pattering on the concrete and as the child ran to catch up with him. "Kaito-niichan? Can I ask for a favor?" The child looked up at him with wide blue eyes, and Kaito looked down, getting lost in the kid's gaze for a moment.

He snapped out of it, shaking his head, and smiled at the child. "Sure, ask away," he replied, bouncing his bag to keep it in his grasp. "I want to get a haircut. I want my hair to look like yours! Please? I also need a pair of fake glasses. Comfort reasons," Sherlock smiled up at him, his eyes pleading.

Kaito thought for a second. It almost sounded like the young boy was asking him to throw together a _disguise_ for him. Why would a child need a disguise? There was definitely something deeper going on here. Also, why a hairstyle like his? His hair wasn't even on purpose, it just never worked any other way.

The kid smiled wider, his eyes growing even more pleading than they had originally been, if that was possible. Kaito looked down at him for a few more seconds, deciding how to reply.

In the end, he gave in. What harm could it do? "Fine. We'll get you those things. When do you need them by?"

"If we could get them now, it would be much appreciated," the boy looked pleased, and turned his head to look at the path. That sentence had sounded extremely un-childlike. Yep, now Kaito had no question about it, there was something going on here. There had to be. Okay, he was still questioning it, but he was growing more and more sure the longer he and the child were together.

* * *

 **A/C:** Sharokku is the Japanese word for Sherlock. I got a hold of this information thanks to PixelGMS (Thanks!).


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** A new, reasonably sized chapter!I am going off of the anime! I haven't had the chance to read the manga due to certain complications.

Thanks for sticking with this story! I am extremely happy that so many people like it! I hope this chapter is satisfying.

Here we go! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Half Brother**

Kaito sighed, exasperated. The rest of the morning had been terribly long, as they had first stopped by a clothes store to buy clothes for the boy, as the ones he was wearing weren't going to work in the least. It had taken awhile due to the fact the boy had no idea what size he was. In the end though, they had bought a light blue t-shirt, two pairs of blue jeans, a pair of jean-shorts, and a long-sleeved black shirt. Oh, and a package of underwear. He had a bland taste in clothes, in Kaito's opinion.

Then they had went to the shoe isle and grabbed the first pair of shoes that fit him, which were a little less than a size one (the child was terribly small!) sneakers with a white sole, a blue outsole, black sock liner, with black, blue, and white decorations. To put it simpler, they were black, white, and blue.

He had then taken Sharokku home to get him washed up and changed. Kaito realized at that moment that the boy could take extremely fast showers, figuring out how the shower worked on his own, refusing Kaito's offered help.

Then, Kaito had realized they had forgotten socks, in which they had to rush to the closest clothing store (not the same one they had visited earlier), with Sharokku wearing his new shoes without socks (it was better than being barefooted, as he had been earlier, they had been able to sneak past the store clerks without them noticing) and complaining that they were hurting his feet, which had a lot of scrapes and large scratches on them, from most likely running around bare-footed. It was never a good idea to do so.

He had thought again to ask about the too large clothes the boy had been in, but shook the notion away, still getting the feeling the boy would never give him a straight answer. In the end, Kaito just became more curious about what the child was hiding.

They had bought the socks, put them on the boy's feet, then gone to the hair cutter's around the corner to fill out one of Sharokku's requests.

Kaito had desperately tried to get the boy to go with a hairstyle other than the same one he had, insisting thay his own haircut was just a strange phenomenon. Albeit, the boy had smiled gleefully at him, and tipped his head to the side in the cutest way, then said, "I really want to look like Kaito-niichan!" To which, Kaito had been totally helpless to resist, so he dropped the subject.

Now they were at home, and Kaito had ordered the fake glasses for the boy online, as it was easier and less expensive. The kid hadn't cared what glasses he got, as long as they were glasses, so Kaito had chosen some of the cheapest glasses that weren't going to fit the kid's face (he had tried to do pink, but the boy had noticed and gave him the scariest look) with black plastic frames.

Now, they sat on the couch together, watching the TV. Kaito had wanted to watch a magician documentary on Houdini that was showing, but the kid had insisted on watching some idiotic detective show.

Kaito had gotten a hot chocolate for himself, and attempted to get one for the kid, but Sharokku had pulled a disgusted face and insisted on coffee, which Kaito had let slip that he had when offering drink choices. Kaito had tried to mend his slip up by saying coffee wasn't meant for kids and Sharokku couldn't drink it, but Sharokku had used the all dreaded puppy-dog eyes and said it helped comfort him, as he had drunk it with his mom all the time before she had passed.

Kaito had stared at him for a moment, having a battle of sapphire stares with the brat, but the child had pulled out in the end, causing Kaito to give in with a sigh, and get him his coffee.

So, here they were, sitting a distance from each other on the couch, drinking their preferred drinks, and watching the stupid detective drama.

Kaito had quickly gotten board, his body starting to vibrate with the need to _prank something_ , and had, in that moment, dyed the poor child's newly cut hair a bright pink, to which the child had startled, then stood up shouting a curse word no child should even know and then turning to glare hard at Kaito, fire burning in his deep intelligent eyes. Kaito had smiled nervously, suddenly scared of the child, and felt a drop of sweat slide slowly from his forehead to his cheek. "You're so dead, Kaito-niichan," the boy had growled, his adorable voice low and threatening.

1412

Shin- nope, Sharokku went upstairs to take his second shower that day after he had attempted to kick something at the magician (that fact had been easily deduced) but utterly failing, not remembering the size and power difference in his body. Then, when that had failed, he had just glared daggers at Kaito and asked how to get the hair dye out, having nothing else he could really do.

Kaito had stood up, a smirk on his face, and shrugged. "It sets almost immediately. That one was of my own creation. You'll have to wait about a week and a half before it fully comes out," the teenager had replied, going to ruffle the boy's hair. "It will be less vivid if you take a shower immediately, though," Kaito informed the shrunken detective, mischief sparking in his blue eyes.

When Sharokku got out of the shower about five minutes later, he found Kaito sitting on the couch intently watching the magician documentary he had wanted to watch earlier. It was almost over, but Kaito was watching it, giving it his upmost attention. Sharokku smiled a little. This day had been pretty crazy, hadn't it? Now, he was living with some prankster magician whom he had never met before (and maybe he shouldn't really trust him because of that, but this teenage magician was already in trouble from knowing, plus he didn't really have much of a choice at this moment) in a house he had never been in before, in a body he _had_ been in before, just a very long time ago.

The documentary ended, and Kaito back at Sharokku, who was standing at the top of the stairs, a towel wrapped around his body. "Kaito-niichan, we forgot to buy pajamas," Sharokku suddenly said, not really even realizing he had spoken the words until they were out of his mouth. The childish voice he had was really quite painful to listen to. Kaito stared at him for a moment, processing the words, then gave himself a face palm, letting his head rest in his hand for a moment before standing up, going to the door, putting some shoes on, and waving for Sharokku to follow.

Sharokku raised an eyebrow at the magician, seeing if he would notice that he was just wearing a towel. Kaito just waved him down again, a tired look on his face. Sharokku shook his head at him. "I am wearing a towel, ba- Kaito-niichan," he cringed at the fact he had almost called the magician 'baka' and his failed attempt to cover it up.

"No being rude, baka. I'm your elder. Respect, kid, respect," Kaito ticked his tongue at the boy, waving a finger. "Just get down here. We'll worry about clothes once you reach me," he ordered, quirking a smile at the boy.

Sharokku looked at him, wondering if he should be worried. That grin wasn't promising. He stood there for a moment, considering his options, but decided on a shrug and a sight of defeat as he walked down the stairs towards the prankster magician.

When he reached the teenager, he quirked his head and gave a small smile of his own. "What are you going to do, Magician-niichan?" Sharokku asked, and the teenager quirked his brow at the new nickname.

"Just. This!" Kaito threw a white table cloth over him, that he had for some strange reason come out of his sleeve, (where did he hide these things?) and Sharokku felt nothing, the cover soon coming off him, revealing him in a rainbow striped t-shirt with neon yellow pants, and a pair of purple socks, along with a Kaito Kid scarf. To top it all off, he had a pair of pink sandals on.

"What the heck did you do to me?" Sharokku asked, his child act dropping to sheer surprise and outrage, as he stared at the new outfit, his face turning red as he stared at the embarrassing clothes.

"An outfit I picked out for you when you weren't looking," the teenager replied simply with an easy smile. "Do you like it?"

Sharokku raised his head slowly, his eyes filling with rage. "Of course not! This is absolutely terrible!" He wanted to say more, but the magician ticked his tongue again, this time shaking his head.

"You have no sense of fashion, Sharokku. It goes wonderfully with your hair! Let us head out!" He winked at the boy, and Sharokku slowly lifted his gaze from the outrageous outfit, his eyes sparking.

"I am not going anywhere in this!" He cried, his voice livid.

Never mind. He really couldn't fight in the body he was in now. All Kaito had to do was grab him with his vice-like grip and drag him from the house. There was absolutely nothing Sharokku could do to stop the insane teenager from taking him out to go buy pajamas in the outrageous outfit.

1412

Ran paced in the Mouri Detective agency, her school day over. Shinichi hadn't showed up or contacted her in any way. Her anxious worry was growing larger by the second, as the bad premonitions she had obtained at Tropical Land when her childhood friend ran off seemed to be coming true.

Her father was out somewhere, probably drinking. When she had come home, he hadn't been there.

He had been depressed (he didn't show it, but Ran could _tell_ ) sense last night, when he had gotten a case, and hadn't been able to figure out where the kidnapped girl was being held.

Ran had chosen not to go, (she had gotten home early enough too) too worried about Shinichi at the moment to really think she would be of much help, plus her father told her not to.

That morning, they had found the poor girl dead in the basement of an abandoned school, it being too late to save her, even though they had gathered the money. When Ran had heard about it, all her clumped up tears had fallen, it just wasn't _fair_ that the girl had died. It was so wrong.

Ran couldn't help but wonder if Shinichi had been there. He would have surly solved it, and the girl would be alive and happy with her family. The world was greatly affected by his not being there. He seemed to just run into these cases, after all, and she was beginning to think there was a reason.

Albeit, she had checked all the places he might be. His house (of which there had been no signs of him being there since that morning, the dishes left undone in the sink, even a mug of half finished coffee left out on the table, he had been running rather late to school that morning), the Hakase's house, the Mouri Detective Agency, and even a few cafés and restaurants all to find no leads.

When she had checked the Hakase's, he had been there, tinkering with some strange invention that had exploded as soon as she entered with a _bang_ and a puff of black smoke. Ran had stood at the doorway for a moment, shocked, staring at the Hakase who had frozen where he was, smiling nervously.

"Come in, Ran-kun! What do you need?" He had asked, after they had both gotten over the shock of the explosion. Ran had wandered in, heading for the couch and sitting down on it, trying to hold back her tears, and failing, as a few slipped from the corners of her beautiful violet eyes.

She gathered herself, trying to calm down by taking deep breaths. The Hakase waited patiently for her to pull herself together, after awhile, going to make some tea.

When he came back with two large mugs of steaming chamomile tea, Ran had calmed considerably, actually managing to look calm. The Hakase sat next to her, handing over the tea, than taking a sip of his own, waiting for her to speak.

"Shinichi and I went to Tropical Land today," Ran paused; taking another deep breath when she noticed her voice shook, than continued when the Hakase nodded, concern sparking in his eyes.

"There was a murder on the Mystery Coaster, and Shinichi solved it, but after he solved it, he went chasing after a man who was dressed in black. I wasn't able to follow him, because my shoelace had broken off as soon as he left. I tried to look around for him, at his house, a few cafés and restaurants, and even where I live, but I couldn't find him anywhere! It appears he isn't here, either," she hadn't said the places she visited in order, and her words came out in a jumbled rush, but the Hakase seemed to get the idea, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Maybe he just hasn't returned home yet? If he doesn't show up at school, inform me, and we can file a missing persons report," the Hakase decided after a little bit of thinking, his blue eyes twinkling with worry. Ran nodded, deciding that would be the best plan.

Well, now Shinichi hadn't shown up at school. She hadn't known how much she had been hoping he would until he suddenly wasn't there. Ran sighed and stopped her pacing, going to the door to put her shoes on. She should go report this to the Hakase, but that would make it too real. She really didn't want to.

But, she must, if she wanted to find Shinichi. It would be better to file the report sooner than later.

With a determined look on her face, she set out on her mission to the Hakase's. She would never stop believing her detective friend was dead until they found his body. He had to be alive, and she would make sure he was found, wherever he was.

1412

They walked out of the store after buying pajamas (Sharokku had kept a close eye on the teenage magician, just in case he planned on buying something else crazy), Sharokku holding the plastic shopping bag full of the soft sleeping clothes, and Kaito holding his hand. Sharokku had protested the holding of hands as they walked, but Kaito had just smiled at him and held his hand a little tighter, so Sharokku was unable to escape without breaking his tiny fingers. Damn determined magicians.

Good thing no one he knew had been there. That would be pure embarrassment, even though they wouldn't really know it was _him._ Still. That thought made him realize he still had no idea where he was in Japan. He expected he was still in Tokyo, but he had no idea _where_. Was he still in Beika? Probably not, but it would be good to ask.

"Kaito-niichan? Can I ask you something?" Kaito nodded absentmindedly, his eyes wandering around the sky. "Where exactly am I? I expect I'm in Tokyo, but…" Sharokku trailed off staring up at the teenager. When he didn't reply, busy staring off into space, Sharokku reached out the hand that wasn't being held (sliding the plastic bag to hang from his arm) and pinched Kaito, holding the little bit of skin between his fingernails for a few seconds.

Kaito jerked and looked down at the kid, a frown playing on his lips. "Hey! What was that for? That hurt!" He complained, and Sharokku laughed a little. He had no idea why, maybe it was because the teenager was so childish himself, but it was easier to act like the child he was supposed to be around him. Then again, maybe it was just the ridiculous clothes.

"I asked you a question, Kaito-niichan! Where am I? I was in Beika last I remember," Sharokku poked Kaito and put a cross, childish look on his face. It was still hard to keep acting like this, though, but he knew he needed to keep up the act for people's safety.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "You ran a _long_ way, kid. This is the Ekoda district, welcome!" The teenager's look turned into a joyful smile as he produced a blue rose and handed it to Sharokku, his eyes soft.

Sharokku numbly accepted the flower, surprised. Not with the trick, though. It was that he _had_ run a long way. No wonder he had been so exhausted! Ekoda was over ten kilometers away from Beika! He shook his head, sill in a bit of awe he had been able to make it this far in the tiny body. No wonder he didn't recognize anyone here.

As they were getting closer to Kaito's house, they ended up behind a girl carrying, wait, a _mop_ of all things. The girl had just turned a corner, and was wearing a uniform and walking the same direction as them. As soon as she came in front of them, talking eagerly with a pig-tailed teenage girl.

When they came in front of them, Kaito tensed, and Sharokku looked up at the teenager. By the look in his eyes, he knew this girl and was at least a tiny bit scared of her, though there was also a bit of deep affection in his eyes that he was clearly trying to hide. This could be fun. Sharokku then laughed out loud, emphasizing the 'ha' sound.

Kaito put his finger over his mouth panic leaking into his wide blue eyes, as he made a hissing noise, trying to silence him, but Sharokku only laughed louder, enjoying watching the teenager panic as the girls slowly turned to face them.

"BaKaito! You didn't show up at school today! Aoko is very disappointed in you, you baka! You ditched school!" She took a stance, her legs spread out and her hand slamming the mop into the concrete sidewalk, a threatening look on her face. Okay, so this girl was named Aoko and she talked in third person still. Interesting. She hadn't noticed him yet, too, though it looked like her friend had, as she was staring at him, her mouth gaping a little.

Kaito stuttered, his removing his hand from Sharokku's, much to Sharokku's relief, and marching up to the girl, Aoko, and putting both hands on his waist, taking a proud stance. "I couldn't make it today. I ended up picking-" Sharokku interrupted him, getting between the two and looking up at them with innocent eyes. He had a cover story in mind, though he unfortunately had to change his original alias to fit it, but the cover story was the best way to keep most others out of the danger. The only one he would have to put in danger was Kaito, but he had a feeling the teenager was already on to him and it wasn't going to be avoided, so he might as well keep most people out of it. Also, if he used this, it would make it harder for the crime ring to identify him. It would make it next to impossible!

"He had to pick me up from the airport today! Mom sent me over, right Kaito-niichan?" Kaito stared down at the boy, startled that he had interrupted. Then he raised an eyebrow, frowning. Aoko looked down at him, gaping for a moment.

"You have a little brother! How come you never told me? He's adorable! He looks like a mini you with pink hair, and really strange clothes. Wait, did you do this to the poor child?" Aoko said sternly, furrowing her eyebrows. She leaned down, setting down her mop and smiled gently at Sharokku. Kaito just stood stock-still.

"He did, Aoko-neechan. He's really mean!" Sharokku exclaimed in his cutesy-child voice.

1412

Kaito wasn't sure what the kid was doing. Why was he being so mean! Now Aoko was going to chase him and beat him with the stupid mop! Aoko glared up at Kaito, which just confirmed his fears. Her eyes were shooting daggers, and Kaito took a moment to be terrified for his life. Then she smiled at him, and Kaito grew even more scared. This couldn't be good. "We'll talk about this later. Aoko doesn't want to show this child violence," she said through clenched teeth, then ruffled Sharokku's hair. "What's his name?" She asked, and looked up at Kaito, still leaning down towards the child.

"Kuroba Sharokku, Neechan!" The child smiled, changing his original name to match the cover story. Or at least, he seemed to be creating a cover story, but why? And on top of that, he was making one as his brother? Kaito didn't have enough information to make sense of it.

Sharokku elbowed the 'older' teenager in the shin, not very hard, but it still hurt, than gave him a pointed look. Clearly, the boy wanted him to follow along. Kaito muttered something under his breath, a bit unsure what to do. The brat wasn't old enough to be his little brother, wait; actually he was just old enough to be his little brother. Okay. So this could work. There were still tons of things he wanted to ask the boy, but he would confront him about it at a later time, for now, Kaito would go with the flow. What harm could be done at this point?

Kaito looked behind Aoko, to see Keiko was giving him a wide, twitchy-eyed look, her mouth hanging open, but it seemed she wasn't going to butt in to the conversation. "Yep! I have a little brother! I actually didn't know until this morning when mom called and said he was coming to the airport, so I was unable to tell you. You need to stop jumping to conclusions, Ahouko!" Kaito harrumphed, than crossed his arms, facing away from his childhood friend.

Aoko stared hard at him, seeming to be trying to figure out whether he was lying or not, but when Sharokku pulled on her shirtsleeve looking at her with large blue eyes, she melted. She looked at the boy, her eyes soft and she smiled lightly. "I'll believe you. He is just so cute!" Now, she hugged him, and Kaito had to resist laughing at the extremely uncomfortable look on the boys face, as it grew redder, and extreme blush powdering his cheeks.

Aoko let him go, and Sharokku let out a sigh of relief, his tensed body relaxing. His sore muscles had improved considerably since this morning, Kaito noted mentally. It was obvious in the way the child was holding himself compared to earlier.

"Uh, we have to get going, Aoko! See you!" Kaito grabbed the boy's arm rather roughly, to which Aoko started to protest, but Kaito ignored her, turning the corner to their houses, waving. He wanted to question this boy as soon as possible. He was also partially concerned about the perverted look that had been on the brats face... He didn't need to see that look on a child's face any longer. Especially not when it was aimed towards Aoko.

"What the heck was that about? When did you decide that you were my brother?" Kaito questioned the child as soon as they were safely in his house away from prying ears. He had learned that this child was terribly mature for his age, so Kaito didn't try to baby him.

Sharokku gave him a steady look, seeming to be considering what he should say. "I don't know, it just felt right," he replied, waving his hand nonchalantly up towards Kaito.

Kaito sighed. This kid was a real jerk sometimes. "Okay, I will let you think on a real answer while I ask another question. How did you know my mom's not in Japan?" Kaito asked, clenching his teeth.

"Well, when I noticed your mom hadn't been home all day, and that you haven't mentioned her other than when you picked me up, I did some digging. Let's just say I found your diary," Sharokku replied with a shrug, and smiled innocently up at him. This child was not normal in the least.

"Okay, Tantei-kun, WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU READ A PERSONS PRIVATE STUFF? And, might I ask how in the world did you get it? I had it locked up in my drawer, my key hidden in a place not even Aoko could find it! Plus, when did you even find the time to read the damn thing?" He shouted, glaring at the snarky boy, who had now crossed his tiny arms and leaned against a wall.

"It was simple. It fell out of the first book I touched. The only Sherlock Holms book you have in your house. The Hound of the Baskerville. Plus, I needed to so I would be able to come up with a reasonable cover. Do you want your friend in danger? And, let me ask you one more thing before I tell. Do you want to be in danger?" The child's voice was cold and there was pain on his face, and he seemed to almost be pleading with him. He obviously didn't want to tell him this.

Kaito stared at him. Yes, this child was creepy and serious and abnormal, but how could he bring danger? How could knowing the truth put people in danger?

Scratch that. Kaito knew very well what telling the truth could do. How it could people who knew in danger. He was Kaito KID after all. But, what did this kid have to hide? He was a seven-year-old boy, right? Kaito thought for a second looking at the boy, who gazed back at him with shining blue eyes. "I'm already in danger. Tell me. Who the hell are you?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Another chapter for this little story! Writers block still bombarding me on other chapters... Gah...

This chapter is absolutely amazing all because of LadyShadow26, who has agreed to beta for me. She is absolutely amazing and this chapter is this good all because of her. I would have been writing 'his eyes keened' otherwise (I feel stupid). So, special thanks to LadyShadow26!

Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following! I am so happy you guys like it!

This chapter is dedicated to my dear little friend and gerbil named Wintershade who passed away yesterday night at a little over four years old. He was my best little rodent friend, and I hope that he rests in peace.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Revelations**

"I'm already in danger. Tell me. Who the hell are you?" Sharokku flinched, grimacing. There was no going back now; he had dived in headfirst and sunk too far in. Kaito's brow was drawn together; he was clearly trying to figure it out on his own. He wasn't going to get far.

Sharokku sighed, thinking to himself. If Kaito was speaking the truth, and was already in danger… What could he possibly be in danger from?

Why was he in danger? There hadn't been anything in his diary to indicate that he was in any sort of dangerous situation. In fact, as far as Sharokku could tell, Kaito was just an average teenager leading a somewhat lonely life. He had lost his father at ten, and his mother spent most of her time abroad, so he was often left on his own. That area was normal to Shinichi in a way, as he had seen many families torn apart by the murder of a loved one, and his parents had almost never come home since the day they left when he was fourteen, but, he guessed he couldn't really call that normal, could he?

Sharokku knows Kaito is not a detective, and therefore has no reason to run straight into said danger. So, Sharokku decided, there must be something he's hiding. Still, it didn't seem like Kaito was a terrible guy, and was probably not one of the crime ring he had come into encounter with. Not to mention, he had seemed almost genuinely concerned for Sharokku when he found him. There had to be some good in him. Emphasis on the need for trust between the two of them, but suspicion still clouded Shinichi's mind. The diary seemed proof enough of Kaito's life; still Sharokku couldn't help the nagging feeling that lingered in the back of his mind. What could he be missing?

At this point, Kaito crossed his arms and leaned against the wall next to the bookshelf in the living room. His face showed next to no expression as he waited seemingly impatient for the answer to his question. Finally Sharokku, who had been hovering over by the door, trudged over to where Kaito stood, and begrudgingly sat down.

Sharokku smiled distantly, gazing up at the ceiling. Was it worth it, telling him? He could always just refuse to tell him and keep him wondering forever who in the world he was. The only problem with that was Sharokku needed his help. He ran into murders almost once every day, and would not be able to solve them verbally. There were a couple of reasons for this he couldn't overlook. One: No one would take him seriously as a detective while he was a child. He had to work extremely hard for the police force to recognize his usefulness even as a teenage sleuth. In the end, it was mostly his father's influence (and his own brashness, not that he's ever admit that aloud) that had gained him Megure's trust over the years. He didn't have the same luxury in his shrunken body.

Two: (And more importantly he might add) It was far too dangerous. Even if he managed the feat of getting adults to take him seriously, he would never manage to stay out of the spotlight for too long. He had no idea how far this criminal syndicate reached, and if word were to suddenly get out about a boy with a teenage mind, it wouldn't take long for rumors to spread. It would be like painting a giant target on his back and yelling, "I'm right here! Come get me!"

Kaito started to tap his toe, growing more impatient by the second, glowering at Sharokku, his eyes judging. Sharokku glared at him in reply, and they sized each other up. Even if he did try and cover it up, this teenager was going to annoy him about it forever. He wasn't the type of person to just drop it.

On top of that, if he didn't tell him, Sharokku had a creeping suspicion that the magician wouldn't keep on board with Sharokku being his brother. Well, it was only one person who was apparently already in danger he was putting in danger, and it wasn't Ran, as much as he hated to take comfort in that. As long as this guy could keep secrets. The teenager seemed that he would be, but one could never be too safe.

"Just to be sure, how do I know you wont announce it to the whole world once I tell you?" Sharokku asked suspiciously, mistrust sparking in his sharp blue gaze.

Kaito looked at the ceiling, considering, then shrugged. "I don't know. You'll just have to trust me. And if you don't, tell me anyways. I may be able to help."

There was his reply. He should have been expecting that. Sharokku let his gaze grow distant again. Should he do as this teenager said and just trust him? Or should he leave, to protect these strangers who didn't deserve in the least to get drawn in to his stupid problems just because he needed someone to stay with?

If he left though, what was he going to do? In this body, he was likely to die with no way to get food or water without people wondering what in the world a child was dong out all by himself and trying to get him to somewhere where he would be 'safe'? He hated being weak and defenseless in his current state. Yet, nonetheless, facing the facts, this was his fault. He was right back to where he started and had nowhere to go where he could truly be "safe". His thoughts wondered briefly back to the previous couple of days. He wondered if it would have been a better choice to go to Agasa for help, but quickly dismissed the thought. Life would have been so much less complicated (and rather non-existent) if the poison had just- no. He couldn't think that way. He had to keep fighting, keep pushing, and he couldn't give up. He had a chance to at least help take this crime ring down, and he was going to take it.

He didn't want to take too big of a risk at this point though. After all, he was not the same foolish detective who had wandered after two mysterious figures unprepared. He was determined at this point not to make the same mistake twice. Could he really trust this stranger, who in some ways seemed just as suspicious?

Sharokku weighed the two damned options carefully in his mind. At this point, he was only stalling. So he was left to decide which choice had better perks, and which had the best chance of having a turnout that wasn't complete discord.

It was an almost impossible decision, and Sharokku was at a total loss at what choice he should make. His mind was working at a lightning fast speed, comparing pros and cons.

1412

Kaito watched as dark emotions flew across the young child's face. It was uncanny to see this child seemingly struggling over something so serious. Young kids shouldn't be able to produce such deep emotions, heck not even most _adults_ should have those looks.

Kaito caught half of the looks, the other half were unreadable to him. He understood the looks that: came from feeling hunted, from keeping something from everyone you know and love, from trying to protect, and some from seeing death. Kaito had only witnessed one death in his life, but it had been the most terrible death someone could witness. The murder of a loved one.

Kaito shook the depressing thoughts away, deciding to stay positive. He had a diary for a reason, and that was to keep all of his negative thoughts and emotions out of his system. His poker face could only hide so much so it helped to release a little of the stress he kept bottled inside. Well, actually, he had two diaries for a reason. As such, he kept all his thoughts on that stashed away in his second diary hidden in his father's secret room. He had never expected anyone to come across his first hidden diary. The boy had managed to discover more personal information on him then even the likes of Hakuba and Aoko. It was one disheartening to know that the poker face he had worked so hard to perfect over the years had been broken into by one little boy. It was only a matter of time before he discovered his other secrets.

On that note, Kaito didn't know what options the boy had, but it couldn't be very many, as he had been ready to stay with a _complete stranger_. His situation must be pretty dire.

Suddenly the boy stood up, a determined look on his face. "I'm leaving," was all he said as he made for the door. "Thanks for letting me stay. Hope you can figure out a way to explain it to your girlfriend, Kaito-niichan," he said curtly, exchanging his slippers for shoes.

"Your really going to go out in the clothes I picked out for you? I thought you hated them," Kaito got up and approached the boy, unsure of what to do to stop him. Kaito realized after he said the words that he was trying to get the boy to stay. He didn't want him to leave. Somehow, this past day had been the most fun he had experienced in quite awhile, running around with this boy getting him prepared to live with Kaito. He had also spent a large amount of money on the clothes, and wasn't letting that go to waste. He guessed he could return them, but saying he wanted to put them to good use gave another reason for the boy to stay.

The boy stopped for a second then looked at him, quirking a grin. "I do. They are unbearably ugly, and I hate them." Was all he said, then he started to open the door, and Kaito panicked. He couldn't let a kid he had promised to take care of just walk out the door! He had to stop him; it was his duty as his guardian.

The door was opening wider, and the boy was stepping out, and Kaito fumbled for something to say. He decided on grabbing his arm, keeping a cool poker face and gazing deep into the boy's large sapphire eyes when he looked back at him.

He was going to tell the boy he didn't have to tell him his secret. After all, he himself knew the value of dangerous secrets. Additionally, from his experience with Hakuba, he knew that hounding the boy for details would get him absolutely nowhere. He knew all about dodging questions and putting up a defensive front, and it appeared this boy was doing it in droves. Still, Kaito found himself much to curious for his own good. He felt a strange drive to protect Sharokku, innocent as he looked. There was just a certain sort of kinship there and he was not about to let the matter slide.

The boy struggling in his grasp, trying to get free interrupted his thought process. The boy had a calm, unimpressed look on his face as he stared back into Kaito's eyes, that didn't match his struggles at all. Kaito gazed back into Sharokku's eyes, filling his eyes with insistence, and plastering a poker-face-smile on his lips. This boy was really creepy, but Kaito still wanted him to stay.

Kaito ignored the struggles, trying to dive back into his thoughts. He could always make a deal with the boy, something like; 'if you stay, then I wont question the thing your hiding from me, as long as you don't look into my secret', but that would make the boy a little too suspicious. This boy, Kaito had noticed, was way to perceptive, nosy, and smart for his own good.

The boy gave him a calm look and said, "Kaito-niichan, I can't stay here. It's dangerous. You're in danger just being in _contact_ with me. It is best if I leave now," the boy's voice was so mature, it made shivers run up Kaito's spine, but Kaito didn't let go, only squeezing the arm a little tighter. The boy grunted in a bit of pain, and Kaito loosened his grip, with a twinge of guilt, to what it had been originally, so the boy couldn't escape, but it wasn't causing him pain.

"Okay, tell me where you plan to go, and I will take you there." The boy cringed at this offer, lowering his head. Kaito put his hands on his hips, triumphant, at the boy's defeat.

There was a pause before the keen eyed boy replied, a smirk evolving on his mouth; "I am going to go live with a family friend who is in Beika. District two, block twenty-one," he said, almost simply, radiating his own triumph.

Kaito sighed, knowing the boy was lying about having somewhere to go, but was in a corner. He had promised the boy he would take him if he had somewhere he planned to go, and was in no place to argue it at this moment. For now, all he could do was take the boy where he was going, and plan something. Anything. He was a child, and no matter how mature he was, he was in no place to attempt and take care of himself.

Sharokku smiled calmly at him, seeming almost relieved. Kaito already had a million cover stories in place to tell Aoko, whom was expecting them for dinner, as Kaito couldn't cook very well (he had an okay ability in the area), preferred not to cook, and needed company and she knew it, a bit unfortunately. They all involved the child being away only shortly, as Kaito knew he was going to get him back, he just had to think on _how_ for a bit.

Opening the door for the tiny child (he was too short to reach the doorknob!) they walked out, going to catch the next train to Beika, when Kaito realized, by looking next door, he should probably tell Aoko that they were going to be a bit late for dinner. Or, rather, Kaito was going to be late for dinner and Sharokku was going to be absent.

1412

Kaito interrupted Sharokku once more as he started to walk down the path away from the house. Sharokku couldn't help but note the nervous smile that was plastered on the other boy's face as Kaito spoke up once more. "I have to head over to Aoko's and explain to her why I will be late for dinner and why you won't be coming after all." Sharokku noticed the slight waver in Kaito's voice as he continued to speak, staring down at him with almost pleading eyes. "This is your last chance. Are you _**sure**_ you don't want to stay here with me? I'd really like to help you in whatever way I can, although I know it's rough to accept help from a complete stranger."

Sharokku's eyes locked momentarily on to Kaito's indigo eyes, his mouth opening and closing in the momentary silence. There was something sincere in in that gaze that made Sharokku's heart convulse a bit. It was like he was kicking a hurt puppy. Sharokku balled his fists in incredulous anger the first words only just registering in his mind. At the moment he felt exasperated. The downright gall of this boy! Still, slowly, as Kaito's other words began to sink into place, Sharokku felt himself relaxing slowly. Finally he put his pointer finger and his thumb splayed on his chin in his signature thinking position. He seemed to be going over his options once again for the nth time that day… Kaito crossed his fingers and prayed to Lady Luck that Sharokku would make the right decision this time around. When he had thought deeply about it earlier, his life had seemed a small cost for keeping others safe. Now, though, if he thought about it again, by dying, more people would end up getting killed by the crime ring that he might be able to at least help stop, as he was aware of it, and knew to search for it, so he would be able to gather information on it.

But, if he got Kaito unnecessarily involved, and harmed in the process, he could never forgive himself. By merely telling him the truth, the already high risk just skyrocketed, and Sharokku wasn't sure what route he should take.

He would rather no one fell into danger because of him, but one was better than the many that would if he didn't end the crime ring, and if he was around to catch the culprit, well, it might be worth it. It would save more lives in the end. It was his job, as a detective, to stay alive until this was all over.

Sharokku smiled distantly, then turned towards the Kuroba household. "Humph. It's my job, so I might as well stick around to do it. Come on, let's go back in," and Sharokku gestured for Kaito to follow him, which Kaito did happily, practically, well, no, exuberantly bouncing after the little boy as they made their way back towards the house.

1412

Kaito was very content with Sharokku's choice. To say he was content, though, was understating it. He was more vibrating with sheer joy, but he kept his poker face plastered as a content smile. He was unable to keep the bounce from his step, though.

He didn't want the boy to leave. He rather enjoyed taking care of him, in fact. From the way his eyes scrutinized every magic trick, taking in every detail with clarity. To the way his mouth turned up in a grin not that unlike to his own after the trick was revealed. The triumphant gleam in his eyes as he explained in detail what he had just witnessed. That was such a rarity for magicians like him. He already couldn't imagine life without it. It was truly like the boy had become his little brother, sinking comfortably into the roll in such a short time.

Once they reached the house, Kaito unlocked the door, and let them in, more than ready to hear the truth behind who was now Kuroba Sharokku. He desperately wanted to know who the boy _really_ was, and it was sure to explain a lot about the boy's behavior.

Sharokku went straight for the couch after exchanging his sneakers for slippers, and ran a hand through his messy pink hair after sitting down, sighing. He looked up with his large dazzling, curious, intelligent blue eyes, and gazed at Kaito. He waited patiently for him to lock the door, than slip a pair of his own slippers on.

After Kaito had done that, he went to sit next to the boy, and when he did, he picked the boy up. "Hey, wha-" the boy protested squirming in his grasp. He was so light! Kaito smiled in reply to the boy's protest and placed him on his lap, giving him a tight hug and ignoring the desperate attempts to escape. He kept hugging the boy tightly and the boy kept fighting for a little, crying things like, "Let me go!" and "I wont talk until you do!" along with, "PUT ME DOWN!" but, Kaito would only let his attempts fail, ignoring the boy until he finally gave in, harrumphing.

"Okay! Tell away!" Kaito smiled again, and the boy bent his head backwards as far as it would go to glare at him, his pink hair tickling Kaito's collarbone.

Huffing, Sharokku moved his head back to its original position, resting it on his hands. "Fine. We are never going to speak of this again, okay?" Sharokku could feel Kaito's chest moving as he chortled in laughter. He suppressed the urge to elbow him in the gut. Just barely.

Kaito knew he was referring to the lap thing and he ticked his tongue. "No promises, Tantei-kun," he winked at him, even though he was aware the child could not see it, and grinned happily. It felt surprisingly nice to have the fragile body sitting in his lap.

Sharokku sighed, shaking his head, but seemed to decide it was pointless to argue at the moment. "Well, would you believe me if I said I was a teenager?" Sharokku asked, his voice almost sounding sarcastic, but it had something sharp to it, an almost dangerous edge.

Kaito thought on it for a moment. He himself was a teenager, chasing a jewel that granted immortality, so, he was really in no place _not_ to. He also had a witch in his class. So, really, it was highly possible, a bit unbelievable, but highly possible. Had Akako gotten to him? Did she have a potion that shrunk people who got on her nerves? He wouldn't put it past her if she did. For now, he would just listen to the shrunken teenager's story, and deal with it if it was Akako later, and maybe ask for something that could turn the shrunken teenager back to normal.

"All right, we'll go with 'I believe you' for now. How the heck did you shrink?" Kaito tilted his head to the side curiously, but held tight to his grip on Sharokku.

The boy shook his head, lifting it from his hand, and Kaito watched as his pink hair swayed back and forth. "It was a poison that I was force-fed. By two men dressed in black. One with longer silver-blond hair and the other with shorter hair, sunglasses, and a square jaw. They mentioned that the poison had been untested on humans, and I have a suspicion that they are part of a crime ring, they said some things that ticked me off," Sharokku explained his voice heavy and sounding monotone as he spoke, leaning again on his hand, and Kaito wished for a second he could see the expression on the boy's face and wish. What he had been through sounded terrible.

"I have a few questions, and then we'll be done with this conversation, that explanation wasn't very detailed," Kaito paused, waiting for a response from Sharokku, and continued when he got a nod. "One: what in the world were you doing? Where were you that you would run into some criminal ring?" Kaito asked, giving the little body a light squeeze.

The shrunken teenager let out a sour laugh. "I was at Tropical Land with Ran," he replied, taking his head off his hand again.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. Who went to an amusement park with their girlfriend and ran into a criminal organization? He wanted to ask, but had no wish to pester the shrunken (and probably traumatized) teenage with endless questions, so…

"Two: who are you?" He questioned, his eyes sparking curiously.

"I would have thought you could have guessed, what with how much I resemble my older self. Heck, with how much _you_ look like my older self. Kudo Shinichi. Used to be high school detective," the shrunken detective announced, and Kaito resisted the urge to flinch and moan.

Of all things he had invited a _detective_ to live with him. With that, it was only a matter of time before his secret would be exposed by the child (yes he wasn't a child mentally, but his body was still one!) and he would have to defend himself and explain his secret to the detective. "Why a detective…" He muttered, and smiled sheepishly when Sharokku looked back at him, an eyebrow rising, but the boy turned back to facing forward, having not really heard him. He could imagine his father rolling in his grave laughing at him. This was not a good situation, but Kaito had ended up trapped in it, and he would have to work through it.

"Well, in my defense, I am not interested in detectives, and try to avoid them most of the time," Kaito defended himself, then asked his final question, "finally, three, because I just want to clarify, I really already have a fairly good idea, but what was the poison _supposed_ to do?" Kaito had hidden his previous turmoil behind a perfect poker face, and asked this question with a steady voice.

The shrunken detective sighed, leaning his head back against Kaito's chest. "It was supposed to kill me. It was a poison that they said was untested on humans. I expect they had quite a bit of money to do it, and a reasonably sized lab. It had my body burning, and I was positive I was going to die; in fact when the police came and shined their flashlights in my eyes, I was _positive_ I was dead. That I had left the world. Then, they called me a 'boy' and I knew something wasn't right. I managed to escape them, but realized my body was shrunken when I looked in a shop window. I had somehow escaped my fate. That's all I can really say, as it is a miracle I survived, and I am still not sure what to think of it," the child rubbed a hand through his bright pink hair again, pulling it away when it met Kaito's chest.

Kaito felt a little shock. He was holding a teenager who had almost died on his lap. A teenager, who _should_ have died, but was somehow alive, fighting and kicking to stay that way, but not put anyone in unnecessary danger.

His situation was so much like Kaito's. In fact, almost _exactly_ like Kaito's. Kaito hadn't shrunken; he had just become a thief. This detective was doing almost exactly what Kaito was trying to do, protect people, but in his shrunken form, he was defenseless. He was tiny, weak, and defenseless. Kaito knew he couldn't, and may never, be able to relate to how defenseless this boy must feel. Maybe, though, he could work with Jii and do something about it.

That was when Kaito vowed he would do everything he could to help them both get through their problems, but first, they needed to get to Aoko's and eat dinner. Then, he had to contact his mom. And Jii. Dang, he had a lot to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hey there! It took me forever to update, my apologies, but this chapter is worth the wait, I swear!

I put in the edits Rockter made for grammar and spelling mistakes she/he found! Thank you, Rockster!

Special thanks to LadyShadow26 for being the beat beta ever and making this whole story complete! Arigato gozamashita (thank you very much in Japanese)!

 **Used Japanese Vocabulary: Kuso=dammit in Japanese. Kaa-san=mother.**

 **Here is chapter five! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Pleasantries**

Nakamori Aoko was very upset. No, that was a lie. She was more than just "upset" she happened to be downright livid. She was could feel her pulse rushing in her veins as she balled her fists. Her head was reeling as she did her best to keep from exploding in rage. Her face flushed a deep red as she inhaled, trying to calm herself.

Fire surrounded her entire body as she wielded her mop, her eyes glowing a scarlet red. Well, that was how it would look if she were in an anime. In reality, she was just standing at the doorway, waiting for Kaito to barge in (he never needed to knock, even if the door was locked) with a dark black aura. She was going to _destroy_ him.

She and her father had been waiting for nearly _three hours_ for Kaito to come for dinner like he had said he was going to. She had even gone as far as to make Kaito's favorite dish for him! That did make her wonder what Sharokku's favorite dish might be. She shrugged it off, thinking that if the two were truly brothers, their tastes must not be all that different.

Aoko was quite used to waiting for Kaito. He had been late coming to dinner enough times that she had lost count at this point. "Not that I've been counting" she quickly thought to herself with a harrumph, her mind switching gears back to anger. "It wouldn't kill him to send some sort of notice that he was going to be late! BaKaito!" Three hours was a long time! Plus, the food had managed to go cold two hours ago! After all of that effort she had put into making the food, she was going to have to reheat it like miso soup.

So, as soon as Kaito and that cute little brother of his got here, she was going to give her childhood friend a good, stern, lecture on being punctual. Hopefully without scaring his little brother too much. She didn't want to traumatize the child.

Of course the fact that her father was upstairs, probably obsessing over the stupid note Kaito Kid had left a couple days ago, didn't help matters in the least. It honestly stung to think that her father seemed to care more about a ridiculous thief than his own daughter. Not that Aoko cared to admit that directly to his face. She and Kaito had argued a few too many times about her father's life mission, and she wasn't willing to do that kind of thing with her father.

Aoko hadn't yet told him about Kaito's little brother. She wanted to leave it as a surprise for dinner. The mischievous side of her also kind of wanted to see the look on his face. She was quite sure he hadn't heard of the fact that Kaito had a sibling yet, and his reaction to it was bound to be priceless. Wow. Kaito had really affected her over the years.

Finally, Aoko pulled out her phone. She had left a few texts, but that jerk had replied to none of them. Now, it was time for a nice little call. He deserved every ounce of yelling she was about to serve him.

Once the idiot she was calling picked up, she took a deep breath and shrieked like a banshee, "BAKAITO! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DINNER WAS READY THREE HOURS AGO!" She screamed into the phone, her face red from the brief lack of breath and her seething rage.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then a small child's voice answered, "Kaito-niichan failed a magic trick. He is currently in the shower trying to get some blue dye out of his clothes."

Aoko turned a shade redder, shock and guilt evident in her facial features. "O-O- Oh, S-Sharokku-kun. Oh goodness! Aoko's sorry! She didn't mean to yell at you…" She stammered pitifully, blinking a couple of times. Damn it. She had just yelled at the poor boy. So much for _not_ traumatizing him.

Another moment of silence, and then a small laugh. "Don't worry, Aoko-neechan. You remind me of someone else I know…" His voice trailed off, and Aoko swore she could see his dreamy face on the other side of the phone.

His reaction honestly surprised Aoko. For a moment there, he had sounded immensely mature in a way she couldn't place her finger on. Just who was this person she reminded him of? Was it just her imagination, or was there a hint of sadness in his voice…?

Smiling lightly, Aoko found herself loosening the tight clamp she held on her phone. She could just barely see the cracks that lined the edge of the screen where she had gripped to hard. It was already showing signs of wear and tear despite being a relatively new model. She frowned down at the small device.

Aoko sighed. "If you say so. When should Aoko expect you guys?" She asked calmly, all of her previous rage forgotten.

"In about half an hour. Kaito-niichan is having a little trouble getting the blue color off of his skin…"

Sharokku's words slowly began to sink into Aoko's mind, leaving her quite a bit puzzled. Kaito had failed a magic trick? That was very unusual for him. Wait a minute… Had he been trying to prank his poor brother again? Sharokku had mentioned something about dye… Aoko tensed automatically, then relaxed herself, taking a deep breath. This was Kaito she was talking about. He wouldn't be _him_ without a bit of mischief. Well, it was too much mischief in her mind, but oh well. She shook her head and managed a quick "see you later, then," to Sharokku before hanging up.

1412

After a quick goodbye, Aoko hung up, and Sharokku put Kaito's phone back where he had discovered it ringing.

That girl sure reminded him a great deal of Ran. Albeit, she was a bit more immature, but it still ended up being surreal how much they resembled one another. It was like stepping out, or rather suddenly flung, out of his own dimension into the one of the teenage magician Kaito. It was an almost dream-like experience.

Sharokku stole a glance over at the blue patch of rug with two footprints in the middle. He had been trying to dye Sharokku's change of clothes (he had finally gotten out of the disgusting ones Kaito had chosen for him), but he had sensed the prank coming this time and had side stepped it, too which it had somehow bounced off the wall and exploded all over Kaito. Kaito had seemed about to side-step it, but had for some strange reason stepped into the shot (much later, Kaito would say it might have looked suspicious if he had gone into the acrobatics he had been about to). This guy really couldn't go but a few minutes without trying to prank someone!

Sharokku tread over to the stairs leading to Kaito's room. He had decided it might be best to tell Kaito they had to get to Aoko's in thirty minutes, or there would probably be something along the lines of a mop in his future. That was what she had been bringing home from school, right? On a side note, who in the world carries a mop to and from school?

1412

Kaito gulped, trying to keep a steady poker face. Compared to Aoko, Snake and his men were like fluffy bunnies. On most occasions, he would rather face those 'fluffy bunnies' than the demon that was Aoko. She had much better aim than them. And with a damn mop!

Shinichi looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, than indicating to the doorbell. Kaito nodded, lifting a hand to it then pausing. He usually let himself in, and he was thinking of letting himself in through the window this time. Last time he had let himself through the door when he was late, Aoko had rained a fish-tied-to-a-mop hell upon him as soon as he entered. He had only been an hour late that time. He didn't want to know what would happen when he was three and a half hours late.

Kaito grabbed Shinichi's arm and hissed to him, "We're going to let ourselves in through the window and try to avoid disaster, kay?"

Shinichi attempted to pull his arm away, failing, and gave him an unamused look. "Through the window? Isn't that considered breaking and entering?" He sighed, allowing himself to be dragged by the 'older' teenager.

Kaito paused for a brief moment, thinking on this, and then waved his finger at the 'child' and made with his signature grin. "It's technically not breaking and entering if you were invited, Tantei-kun!" He replied enthusiastically. When he only got a raised eyebrow in response, he shook his head and sighed. "You have a poor sense of humor, don'tchya?" Then, when the shrunken detective was about to make an indignant reply, he started to drag Shinichi again, shutting him up.

Kaito finally managed to locate a suitable window to enter through. It led to the dining room, which was thankfully devoid of any life at the moment. Lady Luck was with him once again tonight.

Kaito poofed out a few tools from his sleeve, and easily opened the window without making too much noise. Triumphant, Kaito climbed through, pulling a shrunken detective after him to sit at the dinner table.

1412

Aoko hadn't heard a single noise. All she knew is that when she went to the kitchen to warm up the dinner, for her guests were bound to arrive any minute now, she found Kaito and his little brother already sitting at the table.

Kaito had a giddy smile plastered on his face, and he was bouncing slightly, talking with his brother about something. His little brother, -Sharokku, was it…- leaned his head on one hand, his elbows both on the arms of the chairs. There was a somewhat tired look on his face, and his eyelids drooped. He looked as if he was nodding off as he listened to the ramblings of his older brother. However, he perked when he noticed Aoko had entered. Kaito stopped his rambling to look a little fearfully at her.

Aoko walked over to the kitchen to grab the dinner from where she had placed it in the fridge, through the dining room where her guests sat. They had watched her with almost identical sapphire blue eyes as she walked, making her feel a little unnerved.

As soon as she got to the kitchen, Aoko heaved a sigh of relief. She couldn't figure out what caused the intense atmosphere in the dining room. Could it be that she was merely imagining things? She could almost feel the intense gazes on her as she had left the room. It was unworldly, the way those two gazed at you, like two azure-eyed yokai looking to devour her soul. Now, she was a bit afraid to go back. She hadn't liked that feeling of what was best described as "being hunted".

Shaking the boding feeling away for now, she set to work preparing dinner. She had a special surprise for her childhood friend tonight. Oh, curse Kaito for this mischievous side of hers.

1412

Sharokku thanked Aoko as she put the dinner she had thrown together with her father earlier on the table. It consisted of four bowls with covers on them. He couldn't help but see the striking resemblance between her and Ran. Still he felt like there were quite a few, small, differences between them wondered if ,in a different world he had decided to stay with Ran in his miniature form, she would have made dinner for him like this. Sharokku blinked as an image of Ran briefly appeared over Aoko's form as she smiled politely at him and turned back around.

Aoko excused herself, going to get her father from his room upstairs. Sharokku had watched her leave, studying the way she walked, noting that it was quite a bit, well, bouncier than Ran's step was, yet had this sense of sureness that Ran's lacked.

It took him a moment to notice that Kaito was watching him with a smirk on his face. "Shinichi, you look like you're going to stalk her," he noted, seeming to find something funny in this.

Snapping immediately out of his reverie, Sharokku shrugged, not taking his teasing. "It just amazes me how much she looks and acts like Ran, Kaito- _niichan_ ," he emphasized the 'niichan' trying to subtly point out that Kaito should call him 'Sharokku'.

Kaito blinked a couple of times, then a mischievous twinkle entered his eye. "Oh! So she reminds you of that girlfriend of yours!" He teased, a pleased smirk pulling at his lips.

Sharokku's face turned a bright shade of red, and he worked his jaw, trying to think of a reply. "She's not my girlfriend," was all he could mutter in the end, glaring down at the table.

Kaito laughed at this, holding his stomach. Damn magician, he really knew how to hit all of those fragile spots, didn't he? The red in Sharokku's face subsided as he thought more of poor Ran. The girl he had left with no idea if he was okay. The girl who would cry over most anything, and was surely sick with worry.

Kaito seemed to notice where Sharokku's train of thought was going, and he abruptly stopped laughing and grabbed Sharokku's shoulder, forcing the shrunken detective to look into his eyes. "Look at me. We will take care of it, I promise. Don't worry, Shinichi," he said, his indigo eyes acting as an anchor.

Sharokku nodded, then smiled a little, not thinking of what exactly Kaito was thinking when he said 'we will take care of it'. "All right. I trust you, Kaito," he murmured softly, letting Kaito ruffle his hair after he drew away from Sharokku.

1412

Kaito's chest ached when he heard the words 'I trust you' come from the miniature teenager's mouth. Shinichi shouldn't trust him. He had not given up his secret to Shinichi when Shinichi had given up his to Kaito. Kaito didn't deserve Shinichi's trust. On top of that, as soon as Shinichi found out about Kaito's secret, that trust would be shattered. Maybe forever.

But, Kaito kept his poker face and pretended to accept the not-child's trust. Pretended that this generously given trust wasn't killing him on the inside.

Aoko walked in just then, followed by her father. Both of them were smiling, and Kaito took a moment to wonder at how two similar expressions could portray such different moods. Aoko's smile was gentle and kind, and her father's smile was proud and rather excited. He hadn't yet looked in their direction. He seemed to be daydreaming about something. He must have been reading over that kid heist note-

The heist! Kaito had totally forgotten about that with all the recent excitement. What was he going to do? That was scheduled for _tomorrow night_. Kuso… He would have to somehow sneak out of the house without Shinichi noticing. Or, maybe invite him to come to the heist. He was bound to get suspicious if Kaito disappeared right before Kaito Kid showed up and came back only after Kaito Kid had left… Well, he could figure something out. He wasn't a famous phantom thief for nothing.

1412

Aoko entered the dining room with her father, whom had his head high in the clouds. Oh, what Kid heists did to him!

Silently cursing the phantom thief, Aoko skipped over to the table and took her seat, followed by her dad who sat next to her. Kaito and his little brother were across from them, Kaito being across from her and his little brother being across from her dad. They did make an odd little family. It then warmed her that she could think of Kaito and his brother as family, and she obsessed over that for a few moments in her head.

It took a few moments, but eventually her dad seemed to come to Earth, blink twice, then notice the child with bright pink hair sitting across from him.

As soon as he did notice, his reaction was priceless just as Aoko had suspected. He stood up suddenly, shooting the chair he had just been sitting in backwards, and pointed at the young boy yelling, "What in the world is this brat doing here?! I didn't invite any bright pink haired kids to dinner!" His eyes were practically popping out of his head, and poor Sharokku looked at him in confusion, before a spark of recognition crossed his face.

"You`re that loud inspector from the clock tower! The one who was chasing after that thief! You practically blew my eardrums out when I was helping from that helicopter-" he suddenly froze, eyes growing wide, then face palmed himself, mumbling something incoherent. Kaito seemed to find this funny, as he snorted, body racking with giggles. Realization soon took over his own face, though, but he hid it quickly, and Aoko was wondered if she had just imagined it.

Her father sat back down, pulling his chair back up, and looked at the child with a confused expression. "That kind of thing only happened to me once, and it was with a high scholar, not a elementary brat," he rubbed his chin, thinking.

Aoko was utterly confused. If the little boy had just arrived in Japan this morning, how did he know her father? That was bizarre.

"Heh… You just reminded me of someone I knew during our, uh, travels," Sharokku said in a small voice, looking a bit panicked. Kaito was looking at his little brother, his face unreadable, but his indigo eyes sharp.

Aoko's father grunted, his face a bit unbelieving, but he seemed to just pass it of as a childish quirk. "Who is this kid anyway?" He asked, looking between Aoko and Kaito.

Aoko smiled. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She was glad she had waited to tell her father about Sharokku. It was always better to do introductions in person. "This is Kaito's little brother, Kuroba Sharokku. Sharokku, this is my dad, Nakamori Ginzo," she introduced, gesturing to each person in turn.

Her father looked a bit shocked, and then shook his head, leaning across the table to look closer at Sharokku. Sharokku wiggled uncomfortably under Nakamori Ginzo's intense stare, but stayed still for the most part. "Are you sure this isn't one of Kaito's pranks?" Aoko's father asked dubiously when he leaned back into his seat.

"Why would Kaito lie to us about something like this?" Actually, even though Aoko said this, she wouldn't put it past Kaito to get a younger doppelganger of himself for a prank. But, seeing as Sharokku didn't look traumatized (kidnapping would sure make a child more than scared), and it was Sharokku who said it, she wanted to believe it. She had already taken a strong liking to the young boy, and trusted him.

Her father looked unsure. "Chikage would have told me about something this important though…" He trailed off, judging the similarities between Kaito and Sharokku carefully.

Kaito shrugged, looking nonchalant. "I didn't know until this morning. You can call Kaa-san to check if you'd like, though," he offered, and Aoko noticed Sharokku raising an eyebrow at his older brother.

Aoko's dad looked like he was about to go and do it, but changed his mind saying; "Chikage was always a bit secretive..." Kaito nodded a bit too solemnly at this, and Sharokku laughed unsurely, earning an elbow from Kaito. Yelping, Sharokku almost fell off of his chair, barely recovering in time.

Aoko stared at them for a moment, then sighed. "Let's just eat, okay?" She said, taking the lid off of her ramen and picking up her chopsticks.

Kaito let out a bloodcurdling shriek a few moments later, and poor Sharokku toppled straight from his seat in surprise. Aoko just sat in her chair, trying to hide the fact that she was about to fall out of her chair with laughter. It was the best reaction of the evening!

1412

Sharokku patted Kaito's leg as they walked home, little giggles simultaneously bursting out from his mouth. Kaito glared at him, shivers racking his body.

"S-S-She put a f-f-f-f-f-fi-fi-fish in my r-r-ramen…" Kaito stuttered, fear written all over his face. Sharokku nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth without breaking into an endless laugh. It was simply too funny that Kaito was terrified of the scaly marine animals that were one of the most popular foods in Japan. He must have a terribly hard time going pretty much anywhere in Japan without freaking out.

Kaito's house wasn't far. It must be fairly convenient to live right next to your best friend. Soon, they were at Kaito's house, and Kaito was finally starting to calm down. Truthfully though Sharokku had a feeling it was going to take him a couple days to fully recover. It made him wonder what about fish scared the teenage magician so much. Talk about irrational fear.

Sharokku was also cursing his blabbering mouth over and over. He had almost revealed his whole secret in one night. How could he be so stupid? Fortunately, Kaito had pinched him just in time to make him stop and think.

Sharokku's thoughts wandered over to the heist. It had been an intresting break in the stream of murders, and it had honestly been quite fun. The thief had been interesting, leaving that message on the clock. It made Sharokku wonder what had driven him to do that. He hadn't thought thieves really cared about that kind of thing. He now wished he had at least been able to find out who the thief was. It might allow him to do a bit of research.

It had been intriguing to half-officially meet the man who had yelled at him and Megure-keibu in the helicopter. He looked a lot like Ran's dad, which just made the whole situation even more surreal than it already had been. It was fascinating, that was for sure.

1412

Kuroba Chikage was happily relaxing in her hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada. She had come here to see the Kudo's. She hadn't seen them in quite a while, so she had decided it was high time to see how the travelling couple was doing.

Yukiko was quite rambunctious, and her husband Yusaku seemed calm, but definitely had a fun-loving, rather mischievous side. Together, they made for quite the tiring pair.

Yukiko had insisted on showing her all the sights of Las Vegas, even though she had seen most of them on a previous trip. It had been a while ago though, so Chikage hadn't minded. The only mistake had been letting Yukiko drive. It was also hard to have to deal with the time difference on top of all this.

Sighing, Chikage buried her face deeper in the pillows, telling herself she would get up in half an hour so she could get ready for the party the Kudo's had invited her to. She just needed to rest for a few moments before she faced dealing with the enthusiastic couple again…

The laptop on her desk suddenly started to ring, and Chikage groaned. So much for relaxing. Forcing herself to get off the bed, Chikage trudged over to the desk. Plopping herself in the chair, she opened the computer and took a look at who was calling.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the culprit was Kaito, as he usually never called her. She always had to call him. Was there something wrong? That would be a concern… Lots of dangers came with being a phantom thief.

She answered the call, tipping her head to the side in a bird like manner when Kaito appeared on the screen, a nervous smile on his face. There was the sound of shuffling feet in the background, and she briefly wondered who else might be in the room.

"Hi, Kaa-san," Kaito waved at her, and she heard a snort somewhere behind her son.

Raising an eyebrow, Chikage asked, "so, Kai-chan, what have you called me for? I am guessing it's not just to say goodnight."

Kaito shook his head, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. "Nope. I have a, well, little surprise," he said, leaning down so he was no longer in view. "Let me just…. Try and…. Get it…" There was a sudden chorus of grunts and a couple of yelps.

"This isn't a good idea, Kaito-niichan! I'm not doing it!" A small voice sounded, and Kaito huffed.

"We have to. We don't want Nakamori-keibu to suddenly decide to call her while she has no idea what's going on! That would spell trouble," her son said from somewhere off-screen.

"Then do it yourself. I'm not helping put your kaa-san in danger," she heard the small voice of the stranger again. It startled her to realize it was a child's voice. A distinctly male child's voice. She hadn't thought so the first time due to the amount of maturity and intelligence that had been in it, but hearing it a second time, she was sure.

"I… Want… You… to help… me… with this!" There were many pauses in the sentences that were filled with grunts, moans, yelps, and thuds.

Worried about what was happening on the other side of the screen, Chikage called out to the two boys. "Are you guys all right?" She asked, hoping for a reply.

"We're fine! Just a… moment!" Kaito called back, more sounds of struggling in the background.

Suddenly, a small pink-haired boy jumped up to the screen, and the call cut off. Chikage blinked a few times, then got up, rubbing her head. She then proceeded to go back to lay down, convincing herself Kaito would call her back when he was ready. She wasn't even going to bother wondering why Kaito had a small boy with him.

She didn't have to wait long, however, as before she had even reached the pillows, the computer rang once again. Going back to the open laptop with a small sigh, she answered, leaning her head on a single hand.

The pink-haired boy was tied to the spinning chair with a long rope made of rainbow scarves. Kaito was leaning on the chair, ignoring the boy's indignant shouts, and wearing a pleased look.

"Sorry about that, kaa-san. He's a trouble maker," Kaito apologized, ruffling the boy's pink hair. The boy muttered something Chikage couldn't make out (it sounded like there were a couple curse words in there), glaring daggers at her son. Kaito just ignored him, his eyes unreadable as he gazed through the computer screen at Chikage.

"Okay, so what's all this about?" The ex-Phantom Lady asked, raising an eyebrow. This was going to need a great deal of explaining.

"This is Kuroba Sharokku, my little brother," Kaito vaguely explained, a mischievous twinkle entering his eye. Gosh, this was worse than dealing with Yukiko's driving. And, wait. Had he just said 'little brother'? What was he thinking? Was this his silly idea of a good prank? If so, he had done an excellent job finding a boy who looked like a younger him, but with pink hair. The only person she had seen that looked that much like Kaito was the Kudo's son, Shinichi.

"Little brother? Young man, you have some explaining to do," Chikage glanced at the clearly unhappy boy in the chair, whom was choosing not to speak at the moment.

"Well, have you ever heard of the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi?" Kaito asked, probably not expecting the answer she was about to give him.

"Why, yes! In fact, I am in LA visiting them right now. Why do you ask?" Chikage was met with silence, and an almost identical pair of wide-eyed stares. Kaito tried to stutter something, but the little boy, Sharokku, beat him to it.

"You know my parents?" He asked, a hint of something that sounded protective, yet afraid at the same time in his small voice. Chikage blanched, shocked. The Kudo's had another child? And he had somehow ended up with Kaito? This was completely out of the blue. How come she had never heard of this? Sure she had lost contact with the Kudo's for awhile, but they did keep each other up to date! It was time to give them a call.

"Yes, sweetheart. I-I'll call them right now. Okay?" She said gently to the wide-eyed child. She then closed the computer, not waiting for a reply, and went over to the phone to dial the Kudo couple.

It rang for what seemed like forever, but finally someone on the other end picked up. That someone happened to be Yukiko.

"Hey, Chikage-chan! What's up?" Yukiko answered brightly, and Chikage could hear the sound of the shower running in the background.

"Your second son ended up with Kaito at my house, Yukiko-chan. What should I tell him to do?" Chikage asked, her voice dead serious.

There was a lengthy pause on the other end. "S-second son?" Yukiko stuttered, shock evident in her voice. "We don't have one of those, as far as I know…" She trailed off. "I'll ask Yu-chan," she said eventually, and Chikage heard the gentle _thud_ of the phone being set down, then heard Yukiko call, "Yu-chan?"

There was a muffled reply, then "do we have a second child?" Yukiko asked, her voice ringing in what Chikage presumed was their hotel room.

Then there was a shocked shout, and then the shower turning off and opening. Chikage blinked a couple of times, not sure what was going on now, but there were muffled voices talking to each other. She felt like she had been through this already.

After a few minutes, Yukiko came back to the phone. "Yep. I'm pretty sure we don't have a second child," Yukiko said, and Chikage could hear shuffling sounds. "Yusaku's wondering what caused you to think he was."

"I mentioned I was visiting you, and he said 'You know my parents?'. He looks to be around seven years old, so I am pretty sure he's not Shinichi," Chikage supplied, quite a bit unsure. This was getting more confusing by the second.

"Ah. That's… confusing. Can you tell us the whole story?" Suddenly it was Yusaku's voice in the phone now, and she could hear a whine from Yukiko in the background.

"I don't know all of it myself. Kaito just video called me, then he introduced this seven year old with pink hair, that looked a lot like him. I don't have a second son, mind you, but then Kaito asked if I had heard of Kudo Shinichi. When I mentioned I was visiting you guys, the boy said the thing that made me think he was your younger son. I guess I was wrong, though. Oh! And he said his name Sharokku, if that helps," Chikage explained, not sure what to do now. Maybe she should go question the boy now.

Another few moments of silence, then, "can you go talk to them again? We'll wait here," Yusaku asked. Chikage nodded, forgetting briefly that they couldn't see her. "Y-Yeah."

Chikage walked back over to the computer, and plopped herself down into the chair at the desk once again. She opened the computer to see Sharokku still sitting there, tied to the chair by the rainbow rope. He and Kaito were arguing heatedly.

"I know your eager to throw you`re kaa-san into danger, but I would rather keep my parents out of it, thank you," Sharokku harrumphed, glaring at the older teen.

"I don't _want_ to put my kaa-san in danger, it is just a necessary precaution. Your parents could help too, you know. And, they're bound to find out at some point," Kaito argued, glaring down at the boy as they had a battle of glares.

"Yeah. Sure. Believe what you wish, but it's still better to keep them safe," the younger boy replied.

"Keh keh! You think we can keep others safe without help from them? It will, in fact, be much easier to keep it a secret with their help!" Kaito's voice seemed steady, but deep in it there was some fear.

Chikage took this moment to clear her throat, grabbing the attention of the pair. "I just talked with the Kudo's. They don't have a second son," she announced, keeping her voice steady.

They both stared at her for a moment, then Sharokku burst into laughter, seeming to find this funny. "Of course they don't! They're great and everything, but they aren't the best parents," Sharokku giggled, hiccups coming from him. Chikage was starting to think the laugh was a bit nervous, too.

"All right then… You are going to have to explain this to me," she said, getting a little frustrated with all the riddles.

When Sharokku didn't talk any further, Kaito sighed and spoke for him. "Kuroba Sharokku and Kudo Shinichi are one in the same," he paused, letting Chikage process this information. Was he implying that people could de-age? Was that what this was? That seemed, to put it simply, impossible.

Once she had thought over this new bit of information, Kaito continued. "At an amusement park, he witnessed a transaction between criminals. They found out he was watching them, and one came up behind him and hit him on the back of the head. Then, they fed him an experimental poison that was supposed to kill him without leaving a trace. It obviously didn't work the way it was supposed to," he gestured to the child in the chair. The pink haired boy looked away, his face unreadable.

"That… That's, um, how should I put this? Very hard to believe?" Chikage replied, biting her lip. "But, I'll believe you. I'm going to tell your parents, though, little Shinichi-kun. They deserve to know," she said, knowing they did. She was lucky she knew of Kaito's night job before hand, otherwise, he might not have told her about it. Parents worry greatly, even if they weren't the best at being parents. On top of that, with how much she had already told them, it was bound to keep them curious, no matter what lies she told.

The miniature high scholar nodded grudgingly, his eyes not meeting Chikage's even once. "Fine. You have to ask them to make papers for me, though. They can come back if they need to do it here," he had his eyes closed, and his too young face had an adult's exhaustion on it. It was kind of scary to see.

Kaito nodded. "Good idea. You should get to bed, Sharokku. Even if you are seventeen, you are in a child's body now. You need rest," and with a puff of smoke, Kaito undid the rainbow ties, letting Sharokku free.

Sharokku hopped off the chair, then headed out of Kaito's room. His steps were heavy, and his whole body drooped. He had definitely been through enough for one day.

Chikage studied Kaito, her face serious. "You haven't told him of your night job yet, have you?" She questioned.

Kaito rubbed the back of his head. "Not yet. I- He's a detective. I don't want him to go to the police as soon as he becomes normal again," Kaito replied weakly, his eyes wandering to the ceiling.

"Wrong! You don't want him to hate you, Kai-chan. You don't want him to think you're making the wrong choices, but Kaito, you _need_ to tell him. He's going to hate you more if he finds out later. He himself has trusted you with a large secret of his own, no matter how recent that secret might be. Promise me you will tell him, Kai-chan," Chikage insisted, her eyes drilling. She had a idea how this would turn out if her son didn't.

Kaito just nodded, not saying anything. After a moment of just gazing at each other, Kaito smiled then said, "goodnight kaa-san. Love you," he then ended the video chat, leaving Chikage to go back to talk to the Kudo's.

This was going to be fun.

1412

Kaito walked out of his room, deciding to go check on Shinichi before he left for Jii-chan's. Whistling, he walked down the hall to the guest room where the shrunken detective was surely sleeping. He opened the door silently then tiptoed in, making no sound.

There he was, sleeping on his back under the blankets. His chest rose and fell steadily, and his face was serene. The poor shrunken detective had had a very long day. He must have passed out as soon as he hit the bed!

Kaito padded over, then leaned over the bed. He brushed a couple strands of pink hair out of the not-child's face and gazed at his sleeping face. On urge, he took out his phone, and snapped a picture.

He put his phone back, and went to turn off the light that the shrunken detective had left on. Shoot, he had forgotten to ask about what skills he had. He had wanted to go to Jii's tonight and ask him to make some gadgets the not-child could use to protect himself.

Not wanting to wake him up, but feeling like he should, Kaito hovered by the light. Leaving it on, he went back over to the bed and shook Shinichi awake, deciding to ask him now. The sooner he could get some gadgets for the shrunken detective to protect himself with, the better.

"Oi, Shinichi! I need to ask you something, and then you can sleep all you need. Okay?" He said, shaking the detective's shoulders.

Shinichi blinked groggily, then looked at Kaito, his blue eyes half covered by drooping eyelids. "Kaito? What's up?" He muttered, sitting up and lifting a tiny fist to rub his eyes.

"I just need to ask what skills you have," Kaito replied, voice gentle.

"Oh. I'm good at soccer, I can shoot a gun, and I am an amazing detective," Shinichi answered, his voice a bit monotone. He must not be much of a morning person.

Kaito blinked a few times, then nodded. He could work with that.

1412

Once Kaito left the room, turning the lights off, Sharokku laid back down letting his head fall to the fluffy pillows. He wondered for a second why Kaito would need to ask that sort of thing, but decided to let it go. He would wonder about that later. He just needed sleep now.

That was when he heard the front door open. He could tell because when the door opened, the sounds of the wind outside got louder. Questioning where Kaito could be going this late at night, he forced himself out of bed. His detective instincts took over, and he waddled to the front door in his pajamas to follow his host.

Sharokku threw on a jacket, then some shoes, not worrying about socks. He opened the door, and immediately spotted the high school magician walking in the rather obnoxious wind.

He had made sure to turn the lights off so that Kaito wouldn't notice he had opened the door. The wind was loud enough to cover the sound of it opening, and also cover the fact that Sharokku was following him. Really, it was quite a good distraction.

So, Sharokku set of on his little adventure of follow Kaito and find out what he could be doing so late at night.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I've got a lovely little chapter for you all! This is a kind of filler-ish, kind of not. It has it's importance.

And, THANKS SO MUCH TO LadyShadow26! She is the best beta ever! Oh! She also has a story of her own up now. It's in the crossover section with Magic Kaito. Called Adventures of the PHANTOM Pirates. It's pure epic-ness. You should check it out!

Thank you so much for all of your support. I never thought I could have such a popular story. Thanks...

Here you are, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Star-Speckled Skies**

Kaito trudged forwards, fighting the billowing gale. Jii's bar wasn't extremely far, but this terrible wind was hindering Kaito's speed. Buses had stopped running an hour ago, and it would be pointless to take a train. He would just end up having to walk even farther. He was about half way to Jii's by now. There was no point in going back. He would have to ask Jii to give him a ride back home.

There had been a _presence_ following Kaito around, and it had been for some time. Kaito had tried to ignore it, convincing himself that it was probably just some stranger who had decided to take a walk in the direction of Jii's bar. It had started to creep him out, though. The cause of this feeling was that every time Kaito checked behind him, whomever was seemingly following him, disappeared.

The thought that it might be someone dangerous crossed his mind. The person obviously didn't want to be seen. If the person did have bad intentions, Kaito wasn't going to want to lead the person to Jii's. Even if the person didn't have bad intentions, it might not be the best idea to let whomever it was follow him to the Blue Parrot…

The people who had turned Shinichi into Sharokku might be on the prowl. They were most likely wondering why a body had never been found... They might end up mistaking Kaito for the high school detective.

Kaito had thought about the chances of Snake or his men following him, too. The only thing that had paused that thought train was the presence wasn't like that of Snake and his men. It lacked the darkness and greed. Snake also didn't have much of an idea of who Kaitou Kid was under the mask, so chances of it being the cruel man and his followers was unlikely.

Kaito looked around, seeing if he could spot the person who might be following him. It was to no avail, and Kaito cursed. He should just stop here and wait for the follower to confront him.

Kaito was unsure of where he should go. If he continued to Jii's that could potentially put the old man in the line of fire. It was also far too dangerous to return home as Sharokku was still sleeping there unaware of the potential threat. Kaito swore under his breath, stomping his foot on the ground for emphasis. Where else could he wait but right here for whatever danger was lurking?

Kaito glanced around himself real fast, scanning his surroundings. Was there any place where he could quickly disappear…? There! He found it. There was an alley where he could quickly disappear. Now all he had to do was prepare the trick.

1412

Sharokku was immensely surprised when suddenly, Kaito wasn't there anymore. It was as if he had just vanished into thin air. No one could move that fast, could they? This wasn't a superhero comic book, after all.

Looking around, Sharokku walked in a couple of circles. Where could the magician have gone? People don't just mysteriously disappear like that, right? Kaito had to be somewhere. This wasn't an anime, either. People don't teleport in real life.

The question was, where? He continued to walk forwards, scanning his surroundings. That was when he spotted an alleyway. It was a perfect place to hide. A person could easily slip out of view using it. Kaito would have definitely tried there.

Sharokku jogged up to it, putting his back against the building next to it as soon as he reached it. He carefully stuck his head around the corner, looking for the teenage magician. He was immensely surprised to see that there was no one there. Then where…?

Suddenly there was a shout and with a spray on confetti, a shadowy figure came down from somewhere above, landing in front of Sharokku like a cat. Sharokku was startled by the suddenness of it all, giving a yelp of his own and stumbling backwards a few steps.

"Ha! Got you!" Kaito exclaimed triumphantly, smirking down at the lilliputian detective. He stood with his legs splayed and his hands on his waist, towering over Sharokku.

The minute detective let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Ye gods, Kaito," was all he said, sending a tiny glare at the "older" teenager.

Kaito ruffled his hair, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "You're amazingly fun to mess with," he said happily, his voice bouncing off the walls and echoing. He then turned heel and then started walking. "Come on! Want to see something great?" He called once he got a considerable distance, beckoning with a hand for Sharokku to follow.

Sharokku watched him for a few moments. That had been quick. Okay… This day was officially just too weird. Officially. Shaking his head, Sharokku sighed and followed Kaito. Oh well. At least he wasn't dead.

Sharokku stopped another time. The last time he had followed someone like this... Oh heck! Forget it. He was too tired to even go there at this point. If Kaito did turn out to be some phsyco killer (unlikely, but one can never be to cautious), Sharokku would just face his death with a tired face.

1412

The breeze ruffled Kaito's already incredibly messy hair. The earlier gale had calmed, leaving them with a cool wind. The stars above them twinkled elegantly, and Kaito watched them, standing at the railing of his favorite rooftop. He had decided to bring Shinichi here, since it was fairly close. He would just have to call Jii later and explain why he hadn't made it.

Adrenaline could really do funny things to people. It had been a bit of a surprise to find that it had been Shinichi following him, not some creepy stalker. He had been sure that the detective was barely awake enough to move. Albeit, the tiny tantei had managed to follow him. Kaito would be sure to not underestimate him again. He had also managed to make it up the flight of stairs without Kaito's help. Sure the not-child was exhausted, but he had done it non-the-less.

"Why… might I ask… are we… on a roof?" The shrunken detective asked between pants, his hands on his knees as he tried to regain stature.

Kaito smiled lazily, turning his attention back to the city lights and the stars. Shinichi eventually came up to grab the rail; trying to pull himself high enough to see what Kaito could see. Kaito watched in amusement for a bit as Sharokku tried and failed to reach the railing.

"Here," was all he said after Shinichi had failed for the twenty-sixth time. He went over and grabbed Sharokku by the waist, lifting the not-child up so he could see the city lights as well as the stars. Sharokku struggled a bit, not happy in the least by the intrusion of space Kaito was making once again. Kaito, though, held him firmly, not letting go. "Just look at the lights of the city. And the stars. It's worth it," Kaito insisted, squeezing Sharokku a bit. "I chose this place for a reason."

1412

Sharokku fell silent, looking out. The sight that met him was breathtaking. The lights of the city shone brightly, almost like a reflection of the bright stars above. He looked up at Kaito, who was watching the scene with a smirk and misty eyes.

Sharokku looked into Kaito's eyes, blinking a few times. The lights of the city and sky reflected perfectly in them, capturing the essence of the whole thing perfectly. The indigo of his eyes rimmed the scene, complimenting it, and it all seemed like a star-speckled haze. It was like something straight from a painting, or a book even. All-in-all, it was a surreal sight.

Sharokku's breath caught in his throught. He let it out slowly, making it as shallow as possible. He didn't want to disturb the scene. He turned back to watch the city lights, tilting his head a bit. He still wasn't sure why Kaito had brought him here, but it was okay with him, for now. He'd give Kaito a talk on personal space once they got home.

When they got home... It had been such a long day. Sharokku was sure he had plenty more to look forward to tomorrow. There were still things they needed to get established, school was one example. Sharokku shivered. Elementary school all over again. It was going to be like torture. Albeit, he must do it. If he wanted to seem like a normal child, that was.

Sharokku shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He wasn't going to think about that now. For now, he was just going to enjoy the scene and relax a bit. He needed a break every once in awhile. He was only human, after all.

* * *

 **A/C:** There you have it! I have updated all my stories in a matter of two days. Huzzah!

Oh. Forget all thoughts of KaiShin on this. *Throws romance out the window* Goodbye! This will be a pretty much romance-free story! You can take it where you want it to go in your head, though.

All reviews, favorites, and follows are much appreciated. Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Hey! A fast update and a sizable chapter for you all!

Thanks to LadyShadow26 for her amazing edits! I am quickly finding I am not actually a great writer, as all my other stories are failing, and this one is still close to my heart thanks to her.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: School**

Shinichi blinked himself awake, trying to get his unwilling body to move out from under the covers. The room he resided in was dimly lit, two windows with closed blinds letting the tiniest amount of light in from the outside. Had it all been a dream? That must be it. People don't just shrink. It was just an impossible notion. He must have watched something strange with Ran before bed last night... That must be it! The impossible hadn't _really_ occurred. Perhaps he just had an overactive imagination. Or something along those lines.

That was when he noticed he wasn't in his own room. He was in the guest room from his... his... dream. So, maybe it hadn't all been a dream. Maybe it was real. It had sure felt real, after all. Well, there was only one way to make sure in this case.

Shinichi (or Sharokku, it all depended on the reality of the dream) reluctantly lifted a hand, a bit afraid to look at it. What if it hadn't been a dream? What if he really _was_ in a child's body, freeloading with a teenage magician who just happened to look almost _exactly like himself_? Sharokku squeezed his eyes closed for a few minutes, holding his hand right in front of his face. Okay. This was it. Here goes nothing.

Opening his eyes, Sharokku gazed at the seven-year-old sized hand. _His_ tiny, seven-year-old hand. No doubting it now. It was real, all right. No matter how much he didn't wish to believe it, the proof was right in front of his face.

Sighing, Sharokku pulled himself into a sitting position. Time to get the day started. Today was going to be busy, probably more-so than yesterday. He still had a lot of new stuff to get established.

"You're finally awake! It's almost ten already," a male teenager's voice so much like his own. Kaito. Sharokku turned his head to the side to see the magician perched on a desk in the room, his feet swinging and a wide, goofy grin plastered on his face. His eyes were filled with glee and a bit of amusement as he gazed at his shrunken house-guest.

"Good morning, Kaito," Sharokku said, frowning a bit and creasing his brow. How long had the teenager been sitting there? He looked like he had been perched there for awhile. Had the 'older' teenager just been watching him sleep? That would be a bit creepy.

"We need to get moving! We have lots to do today!" Kaito exclaimed giddily, bouncing of the desk and walking over to stand next to Sharokku's bed. He reached a hand out and started to ruffle the not-child's pink hair. The shrunken detective huffed at this, lifting his hand to swat away Kaito's.

"Yeah, we do. Have you made breakfast?" Sharokku asked once Kaito's hand was removed from the tiny tantei's head. He decided to let go of the whole 'Kaito-was-watching-him-sleep' thing. He really didn't want to know. Sharokku then let out a large yawn, stretching out his arms to either side. "I would like some coffee too, please," he added, almost as an afterthought. He blinked his eyes a couple of times. "My brain won't work right if I don't get some..." He muttered under his breath, half to himself. Kaito snorted, shaking his head.

"You rely too heavily on that bitter beverage, my friend," the magician informed, getting up off the bed. "And, yes. Aoko brought some breakfast over. My cooking isn't the best. I go a little... crazy with the ingredients. I can't stand to keep the recipe the same. I like to shake things up," he gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

1412

Once Shinichi had gotten dressed and done other morning necessities, he headed downstairs where Kaito was using the stovetop to warm up the food Aoko had provided them with. Kaito looked up from the pan once he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs with a wide smile.

"I set some coffee out for you on the table," he informed, gesturing with his head towards the steaming cup that rested on the table. Shinichi immediately perked, his whole body growing visibly lighter as he drifted over towards the mug. As soon as he got to it, he took a deep breath, inhaling its comforting scent.

Kaito watched him do this with a small smile. It was amusing how just the scent of the coffee could make Shinichi's mood lift. He watched for a moment, then turned back to his pan. The rice was almost warmed to a good temperature. He just had to keep an eye on it and make sure it didn't burn.

"What exactly is on the agenda for today?" Shinichi asked after a minute of silence. Kaito thought for a moment, watching the rice in the pan closely.

"Well, we have to check out your new school. They are willing to give you a tour beforehand, which I accepted. We will have to do registration a bit later. We need to get in contact with your parents, first. They need to make the records," Kaito said, turning off the stove. Shinichi made a sound of agreement. Kaito then pulled out a couple of bowls and scooped the rice into them. He put the bowls at the two set places at the table. After that, he went back to the stove and grabbed the homemade vegetable soup he had warmed, which was served in bowls.

Once they were both happily eating, Kaito started up conversation again. "So, I know you told me of your skills last night, but can I know a bit more about them?" He asked. He wanted to know Shinichi's skills to their full extent, so he could make sure he got appropriate gadgets for the not-child to use.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, looking unsure. Kaito had to admit, it was a bit of an awkward question to ask so out of the blue.

"Just like, you know, if you have good aim? I just want to be prepared so I know to give you in case you ever get into trouble. I have a few magician's gadgets that could potentially help," he informed, trying to sound convincing.

Shinichi gazed at him for a few more moments, then shook his head with a sigh. "Alright. I am a pretty decent driver, though now," he gestured at himself, "I guess that wouldn't really work," he said, furrowing his brow in disappointment. Kaito nodded, taking mental notes. "I can ride skateboards and bikes rather well, which would work better with this body," he said, and Kaito nodded once again. He hid it, but it amazed him that Shinichi could drive. In Japan, people couldn't drive legally until they were eighteen, which meant Shinichi must have learned illegally, or in another country.

Shinichi tapped his chin in thought, tipping his head to the side. "I am a really good shot, though I prefer to only use guns when necessary," he said after a moment of thought. Kaito's mind wandered off to the conversation they had held at dinner last night. Shinichi had come scarily close to hitting either he or Nakamori with a bullet. So, his aim was pretty much on par with Kaito's own. Might want to consider a modified card gun as one of the not-child's gadgets.

On a quick change of subject, Kaito asked; "Anything more suitable for, oh, I don't know, a _child_ to be doing?" He noticed that none of the things that Shinichi had mentioned were something you would find a child of the shrunken detective's apparent age doing on a normal basis. His disguise instincts were kicking in. He needed something a little more "child-like" to work with.

Shinichi huffed. "I believe I mentioned this earlier, but I _destroy_ with soccer. I play expertly. I often use it to stop criminals," the not-child said, pride tinting his voice. Kaito rolled his eyes. Talk about full of yourself. "Though, in this body, my kicks..." Something a little unsure and kind of sad crossed Shinichi's face. Kaito let himself pity the shrunken detective for a moment. To lose something you used as a form of self defense... Kaito knew if he lost the ability to use his hands as well as he did now, he would be rather disappointed. It must be pretty hard on Shinichi. Maybe there were some gadget Jii could get ahold of that would amplify Shinchi's kicking power.

The minute detective chuckled. "Well, I guess that's about it. I can also fly an airplane, go deep sea diving, and ride a glitter powered skateboard to the moon, but I figure those won't be of much use," Shinichi said with a shrug. Kaito nodded, chewing his lip as he thought on the gadget options.

"Wow. That's a lot. Where, might I ask, did you learn to do all that?" Kaito questioned, a little incredulous and a bit amazed. That was quite a bit for even a seventeen year old to know how to do.

"In Hawaii. That's where I learn to do _everything,"_ the tiny tantei replied, his face the picture of nonchalant as he lounged back in his chair, arms behind his head. Kaito nodded absentmindedly, then did a double take. Wait a minute...

"Did you just say you could fly a _glitter-powered skateboard_?" Kaito checked, stareing a tad wide-eyed at the not-child. Now he was immensely curious. That was just... insane.

"Yeah, why? It's no big deal," he said lazily, sitting back up and grasping some rice with his chopsticks and eating it. He then turned his head to Kaito, tipping it to the side with wide, innocent eyes.

"That... Are you pulling my leg?" Kaito asked, giving the shrunken teenager an accusing glare. He had to be. Sure, magic was real, Akako was proof of that. But for Shinichi to know how to fly a glitter-powered skateboard... That was just way too unlikely.

"Now, why would I do _that_ Kaito-niichan?" Shinichi said, going full-child cutesy on Kaito, his voice going up an octave and a most innocent look plastered on his seven-year-old face. He set down his chopsticks and pulled his shoulders up, clutching his hands together under the table, his arms straight.

"You're just making fun of me now, aren't you?" Kaito harrumphed, putting down his own pair of chopsticks and crossing his arms.

"No, of _course_ not," Shinichi drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and he dropped his whole cute act. Oh, that little...

Kaito huffed, uncrossing his arms and picking his chopsticks back up. "Not appreciated," was all he said, plucking some rice from his bowl. Though, when he thought about it, if he could figure out how to get ahold of a glitter-powered flying skateboard, that might make an amazing heist tool. He'd have to see what he could do with that one.

1412

Hakuba was the first to class today, as usual. He liked to be early in this case, as it gave him time to prepare for the day ahead. Especially if Kaito was going to pull some frivolous prank as he usually did. He seemed to love to target Hakuba for some odd reason, so Hakuba usually liked to do some mental preparation. This included searching the classroom for pranks that had been set the previous day, or in this case, two days before. You could never be too careful, considering some of Kaito's pranks were set on timers quite often.

Aoko came in as Hakuba was checking inside his desk, looking around carefully for anything that looked out of place. Aoko was soon followed by Keiko, and they were chattering avidly about something that Hakuba had no interest in. He noted mentally that Kaito wasn't with them today, once again. Why did this not surprise him?

Well, Hakuba hadn't thought he had interest in it. It managed to spark some when Aoko started saying; "Aoko made them breakfast this morning. You know how Kaito is with cooking. He might of put some chemical in the food just to see how the food reacted to it. That would have been so terrible, especially for Sharokku!"

Hakuba had been only half-listening, but as soon as the girl had said 'Sharokku' his whole interest perked. Blame it on his love for Sherlock Holmes.

"Who is this 'Sharokku'?" He asked, leaving his desk to walk over to Aoko's where both the girls had been talking. Aoko looked at him, a smile clear on her face. Keiko looked over after her friend, giving a small wave to the half-British detective in greeting.

"He's Kaito's little brother," Aoko explained. "He just arrived yesterday! He's been travelling around with their mother this whole time, and Kaito didn't even know he existed. He's really adorable! He's only seven," she said, her smile growing a bit wider as she gave the rest of the explanation. Keiko nodded, her pig-tails bobbing.

Hakuba raised his eyebrow, intrigued. Kaito had a little brother, huh? That was actually pretty unexpected. It did explained why the magician hadn't been at school yesterday, and didn't appear to be coming today. Also, the name Sharokku was a bit odd, wasn't it? Hakuba had never thought that the Kuroba's might have an interest in the series, as Kaito came off as more of a Lupin fan. It was far more like something Hakuba would have done. Actually, he was planning to do it, but that was besides the point...

The question was, why hadn't Kaito known of the existence of this said 'brother'. It was peculiar that his mother wouldn't have told her eldest son, yet suddenly push the child off on him. Usually parents would at least inform their child ahead of time, if not just right out tell them they had a brother. Also, how had Kaito not noticed his mom being pregnant? Even if he was a young child, he would have been curious. What had caused her to take that action of keeping the second child a secret? Did it have something to do with Kaito being Kaitou Kid? If so, Hakuba might be able to do some investigating and find out for sure whether or not Kaito was the phantom thief. This might just be his chance!

Suddenly pumped, Hakuba gave a smile that might appear rather haughty to others. He excused himself from the pair politely, going back to his seat. He would have to pay Kuroba Kaito a little visit after school and meet this second child of the Kuroba's.

1412

Sharokku held his cell out on speaker as he sat on the couch with Kaito next to him. He kicked his legs lazily, waiting for _those two_ to pick up. They were bound to do it eventually. They weren't ones to miss talking to him after finding out something as big as him _shrinking._ In fact, he was quite surprised they hadn't called already.

After the phone rang for about a minute, someone finally did pick up. "Shin-chan!" A woman's voice shrieked into Sharokku's ear, and he had to hold the phone away to save his poor eardrum from corruption. Kaito raised an eyebrow at him, giving him an skeptical look.

 _"_ K-Kaasan..." He said into the phone once he was sure him mother wasn't going to screech at him again. He laughed a bit nervously, sweat dripping down his cheek. It was quite the experience, talking to his mom over the phone...

 _"SHIN-CHAN!"_ She squealed again, this time adding a little more dramatics to it. "Is it really true? It sounds true! Chikage-chan sounded so shocked!" She said enthusiastically, and Sharokku could just see her bright eyes and wide, goofy grin. Kaito just kept staring at the shrunken detective, his eyebrow high on his forehead. It was a shocking experience to merely hear Shinichi's mother's enthusiastic voice. It would make anyone a bit dubious of Shinichi's upbringing.

"Yeah. Unfortunately," he replied, not exactly sure what all he should say. His mom sounded way to happy that he had shrunken. It was going to be interesting if they decided to come visit... He couldn't help but hope that wouldn't be any time soon.

"What do you mean 'unfortunately'? This is great! You're seven all over again! It makes me feel so young..." She said, her voice seeming just to be climbing higher and higher in pitch. It was almost like she was rubbing it in his face, though he knew that wasn't her intention.

"Yeah... great. Umm, we wanted to ask about papers...?" He changed the subject, trying to avoid any more high-pitched squeals. He swore his ears were going to crack from it all one day.

"Oh, those? We're actually on our way over now! It'll be much easier in Japan than in America, and we want to see our little Shin-chan~!" She sang, and he heard a pound on the floor on the other side that was most likely from her giving an excited bounce. "We're at the airport! The planes going to leave in an hour. We'll be there soon!" She said giddily, then she started humming something that sounded relatively like a child's lullaby. She was going to far with this.

"Ah. Alright, then! See you," and he hurriedly hung up, pressing the red button on the phone screen with a sigh. Kaito just kept on staring at him, his face blank, though his eyes were a bit judging. Sharokku sent him a glare. "I have eccentric parents, okay?" He said, a little exasperated. Kaito just snorted, a smirk on his face. Sharokku huffed in reply, sticking out his tongue in a childish manner. Kaito seemed amused by this, as he snorted again, holding back a laugh that seemed to be rising in his throat.

"You make a great child," Kaito said doing a scarily accurate imitation of Shinichi's mother. Shinichi briefly had to wonder how he was able to do that, then remembered his mom also had a talent in the skill. Kaito must have done some training with someone like Shinichi's mom had to gain the skill. Kaito then gave into laughter, not able to hold back anymore. It interupted Sharokku's thought train, and made him startle just a bit. The laughter... Sharokku couldn't help it. In the heat of the moment, he started laughing along, gripping his sides.

"Geez, Kaito. You're too much," he replied, hiccuping from the giggles that were still trying to burst from him. Kaito nodded, wiping away a few tears. Then, they heaved a sigh simultaneously.

"Well, we better get to that school. I scheduled for eleven thirty," Kaito stood up, recovering from the moment surprisingly fast. Sharokku looked up at him for a few moments, blinking.

"Dang. Elementary school _all over again_. This is going to be painful," he replied with a groan, his body slumping into the couch. Kaito looked back at him, his indigo eyes twinkling with amusement once again.

"It's so weird hearing that come from the mouth of someone who looks like they've just started their school years," he informed, then he walked over to the door, replacing his slippers with shoes and poofing on a jacket. "Well, are you coming or not? We're going to be late."

Sharokku moaned, lifting his body from the couch, suddenly feeling heavy. "Fine. Let's just get this over with," he sighed a bit sadly, following Kaito over to the door. Kaito smiled down at him, reaching down to ruffle his hair, stopped quickly by Sharokku's own hand.

"That's the spirit! Let us go!" Kaito said cheerily, pulling his hand away and shaking it a bit from the rather rough slap he had received from the not-child.

1412

"So, this is the classroom you'll be in. That woman over there is your sensei, Matsuoka Honoka. She is extremely nice. I'm sure you'll really like her," the woman who was giving them the tour of the school said with a smile. "You can go in, if you'd like. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Maybe even introduce yourself?"

Sharokku gazed into the classroom with narrowed eyes. Great. This was just wonderful. There were tons of tiny kids sitting in a classroom staring at a chalkboard where the teacher was trying to teach them to subtract. The worst thing was, most of the children in there were probably _taller_ than he was at the moment. This was going to suck.

Kaito gave him an elbow and a pointed look, shocking Sharokku out of his 'this-is-the-worst' trance. Sharokku looked up at the woman, who was looking expectantly at him, and smiled a bit nervously. "Sure. That would be great!" He said in a high-pitched voice, raising his arms in the air enthusiastically. Kaito looked like he was having a hard time _not_ cracking up at this. Okay, so maybe it was a bit overkill, but whatever! Acting like a stupid seven-year-old all the time wasn't easy.

The woman stepped into the classroom, going over to the teacher and muttering something to which Matsuoka nodded with a small smile.

"Come in! Introduce yourself to your new class!" She called out in a sweet voice. The other students turned in their chairs, looking to see who she was talking to.

Sharokku stumbled into the classroom with a shove from Kaito to which he sent back a glare. The magician shrugged, and amused smile pulling at his lips. Sharokku huffed, then continued walking forwards, around twenty pairs of eyes following him every step of the way. It was pretty unnerving. Once he was in front of the board, he gave a nervous smile and waved, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Tell us your name," Matsuoka said gently, a piece of white chalk against the board as she prepared to write his name. "Then, you can tell us a little about yourself."

Sharokku nodded up at her, his eyes a bit wide. Gods, he must look like some insecure child or something. He puffed out his chest, trying to change his air to confident and proud. Maybe a bit untouchable. He had no intention of making friends here. "My name is Kuroba Sharokku. I am the younger brother of Kuroba Kaito. I can't see very well without glasses, enough to get around, but my previous pair broke so we had to order new ones." Time to put to action another important part of his disguise. It was best to bring it up sooner rather than later. It would mean less questions asked. He could see Kaito out of the corner of his eye, the magician's own eyes filled with mirth. He was never going to live this down.

The teacher smiled down at him after she had finished writing his name on the chalkboard. "He's going to join us next week. Be nice to him, okay?" She said, bending down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll have lots of fun here," she reassured with a wide smile plastered on her face. Sharokku gazed at her for a few seconds, then nodded.

"See you next week, Sharokku-kun!" The teacher called out with a wave, the rest of the class waving with her as he left, cringing a little. Kaito was giving him the worst smirk, his whole aura reeking of hilarity. Yes. This was just _great._

1412

Hakuba walked a little distance behind Aoko and Keiko, feeling quite awkward. He felt as if he was intruding on something he shouldn't be. The two girls walked in front of him, talking avidly. Aoko kept sending the occasional glance back to him, her eyes holding a bit of an apology, but Hakuba understood well. They didn't have all that much in common, and it was a bit hard to make conversation with him. He chewed his lip, holding his bag behind his back as he wandered after the two friends.

They had allowed him to come as soon as he had asked, of course. They had seemed to understand his reason, and they had almost seemed happy to have him tag along. It actually warmed him up a bit, too. To think that he knew people well enough to be allowed to walk home with them, that is.

He was immensely excited to meet this 'Sharokku'. He kind of hoped that he could save the poor child's soul before he fell to the malicious pranking way of Kaito. If the child hadn't already been affected by it, it might not be too late!

Keiko suddenly broke off from them, waving. "I'm off to my house! See you guys tomorrow!" She called as she turned, her pigtails bouncing and a wide smile on her face. Aoko waved back, calling out her goodbye and Hakuba watched her go with a polite smile.

Aoko fell back next to him, and looked around awkwardly as they continued on, neither sure what to say to the other. Finally, it was Aoko who spoke. "So, is there anything you want to know about Sharokku-kun? You seemed to be interested in him," she said, tipping her head to the side. Hakuba chewed his lip, thinking. He had a ton of questions stored up, but he wanted to make sure he was asking reasonable ones.

"Do you know why his name is Sharokku?" He tried. He was most curious on that. It was such an eccentric name, and he was sure that only true Sherlock Holmes fans would think to name their child that.

"Aoko... Actually doesn't know that one. He doesn't resemble Sharokku Homuzu as far as I can tell..." She said, her voice unsure. She gave Hakuba an apologetic smile, tipping her head to the side. Hakuba nodded, thoughtful. They had named a child Sharokku and even Aoko didn't seem to know why. If they were huge Sherlock Holmes fans, she probably would have mentioned it, yet that hadn't. How curious...

They walked the rest of the way in silence, both looking in opposite directions. Fortunately, they were soon at Kaito's house. Aoko opened the gate and started walking up the pathway ahead of Hakuba. Hakuba blinked a couple of times. He didn't think he'd ever really been to Kaito's house.

He followed Aoko up the pathway, coming to stand next to her on the doorstep. She rang the doorbell, and Hakuba could hear the loud _ding_ vibrate through the house. It took a few moments, but eventually the door was opened by an amused looking Kaito. He looked as if he had just been laughing over something.

The magician froze when he saw Hakuba, his eyes narrowing a bit. "What do you want, Hakuba?" He asked, raising an eyebrow a little. Hakuba gave him a curt look, holding his head high.

"I came to meet your brother," was all he said, keeping it as vague as possible. Kaito looked a bit surprised at this, then sudden understanding crossed his face.

"Oh. I'll go get him, then."

1412

Kaito silently cursed. Of course Hakuba of all people would come to his door. It had most likely been the name 'Sharokku' that had ticked him off. The half-British detective had an intense interest in Sherlock Holmes. Wasn't it bad enough that he suspected Kaito of being Kid, though? He was bound to try and find something off about Shinichi. Or (and this was even worse) start telling the shrunken detective of his belief that Kaito was Kaitou Kid. That would lead to a whole other mess.

Kaito began walking up to the couch where Shinichi was sitting with a mug full of coffee in his hand, reading a book. He shook the minute detective's shoulder, pulling him out of his zealous reading. The shrunken detective looked up at him with an annoyed look. "What do you want?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Kaito sighed, gesturing towards the door. "There's another high school detective who wants to meet you," he explained. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, closing his book and setting it down.

"Why?" He asked, getting up off the couch and cradling his mug in his hands like it was some sort of precious gemstone. Kaito sighed once again, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's probably the name you chose. You are going to forever attract Sharokku Homuzu fans," he said, and Sharokku seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Maybe not the wisest name choice..." The not-child muttered after a moment, shaking his head. "Oh well. Let's just get this over with. It might be nice to know another Sharokku Homuzu enthusiast..." He said with a bit of a wistful expression. He then walked over to the door, standing on his tiptoes and opening the door fully with the hand that did not possess the mug full of coffee.

Kaito watched him for a moment, then followed the shrunken detective. He exited the house and pulled the door shut behind him. The scene he was met with was Shinichi and Hakuba gazing at each other, and Aoko standing awkwardly on the sidelines, messing with a zipper on her bag.

"Hello, Niisan! My name is Kuroba Sharokku. Nice to meet you!" Shinichi exclaimed in the most adorable child voice Kaito had ever heard. He gazed up innocently at Hakuba, who gaped down at him, seeming a little shocked.

"Hello, Sharokku-kun. My name is Hakuba Saguru. I am pleasured to make your acquaintance," the half-British detective said, blinking at the child a couple times. Kaito walked up next to Shinichi, and Hakuba blinked again, looking between the two people, no doubt noticing their similarities.

Kaito looked down at Shinichi, then up at Hakuba, wondering what was going to happen next. For now they seemed to just be standing awkwardly, none sure what do say or do next.

Finally growing tired of the dragging quiet, Kaito continued the conversation for them. "So, this is my little brother, as you can tell. Is there anything else?" Kaito crossed his arms. Hakuba gazed at Kaito for a few seconds, then took on a haughty smile and shrugged.

"No. I just wanted to meet him." The high school detective then directed his attention to Shinichi, leaning down a bit. "I'll see you around? There's a Kid heist soon. I hope to see you there, Sharokku-kun," Hakuba smiled, then stood back up straight, bowing to Aoko. "Thank you for allowing me to tag along. See you at school tomorrow." And then Hakuba was off, heading in the direction of his house.

Kaito cursed the half-British detective. Now, Shinichi was sure to want to try and attend the Kid heist. This was going to be a problem.

Kaito watched him leave, and once he left, Aoko went up to him and handed him a small stack of papers. "Here's your school work. Should Aoko expect you over for dinner?" She said, and Kaito took the papers with a nod. Aoko smiled and crouched down next to Shinichi. "Aoko can make dessert for you. What would you like?" She asked, ruffling his hair.

Shinichi smiled, gazing up wide-eyed at her. "Lemon pie is my _favorite,"_ He said, tipping his head to the side and smiling back. Aoko nodded at him, then stood up, a determined look on her face. "Okay. I can do that," she said, hitting a fist into the palm of her hand. She then walked down the path, heading towards her own home with a wave.

"Alrighty. That was interesting," Kaito said as he stood there, gazing ahead next to Shinichi. Shinichi made a sound of agreement.

"What's all this about a Kid heist?" The shrunken detective asked after a few moments as they both gazed off into the distance.

"Don't worry about it. It's just some thief's heist that takes place a couple of nights from now..." Kaito said, perfect poker face in full power.

Shinichi made a thoughtful sound. "I might attend, then. Sounds interesting." Oh curse that Hakuba! Now he was going to have an even harder time keeping his secret from the minute detective.

"If you want. I honestly do like them myself, but I don't think I'll attend this time," Kaito replied nonchalantly, trying to subtly drive Shinichi from wanting to go to the heist. If Shinichi attended the heist, it was just getting the minute detective a step closer to discovering his secret.

Shinichi didn't respond to that. He just made another thoughtful sound in the back of his throat. They both fell to a comfortable silence then, in which Kaito mentally freaked out about Shinichi and his own secret identity.

"Oh, and Kaito?" Shinichi asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes and looking up at the teenage magician. Kaito looked down at him in turn, cocking his head. "Can we head over to Beika tomorrow? My mom just sent me a text seeing if we could meet them there. I also want to check my mail."

Kaito considered this for a moment. He didn't see much wrong with it, other than the chance of running into people who might know Shinichi, but even that wasn't much of a problem. "Okay. I don't see why not. Oh! And we can visit that girlfriend of yours while we're at it! We might as well keep an eye on her, just in case," he replied, eyes brightening.

Shinichi froze, then shook his head. "No. I want to keep her completely out of this. Just no."

Kaito huffed, folding his arms. "She's got to be worried sick over you, and you don't even want to make some sort of contact? You're so cold-hearted!" He said dramatically.

Shinichi harrumphed, folding his own arms over his chest. "I said no, and I mean no. I just want to keep her safe," he replied. The not-child then turned heel and stalked into the house, leaving it at that. Kaito watched him go, then sighed, following him inside. Oh well. He had tried. He would probably just have another go at it later after Shinichi had thought on it a little.

Once Kaito had locked the door, he went over to the kitchen, hoping to make some hot chocolate for himself. He had a feeling tomorrow was going to be another busy day. They were going to need a good night's sleep again. No more watching stars from rooftops until one in the morning.


	8. Chapter 8: Part 1

**A/N:** Here's another chapter! This is going to be a three part chapter, as I am attempting to write a case! There will be multiple in this story, and constructive criticism is welcome on them.

To Rockster: The glitter-powered skateboard comes from a Detective Conan ending where he's flying to the moon with Ran. On a glitter-powered skateboard. ^-^

Thank you to all reviewers, favoriters, and followers!

Thanks to LadyShadow26 for betaing! She is an amazing help.

Here you are!

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Adventures in Beika**

.

 **Part 1**

"We have arrived in Beika! Please watch your step as you get off the train!" The voice over the loudspeaker called, and a crowd of people made to get off the train, Kaito and Sharokku included. They had taken off earlier that morning so they could arrive in Beika with time to spare as Sharokku had no idea when his parents were arriving. They had conveniently (albeit unsuprisingly) left out that tidbit of information.

As soon as they were off the train, Kaito stretched his arms into the air with a yawn. "We're finally here! That seemed like forever!" He exclaimed dramatically, a wide smile plastered on his face.

Sharokku shook his head with a small snort. "Yeah. Ten minutes is _excruciatingly long_ ," he said sarcastically. Kaito nodded, his eyes wide and serious.

There was a moment of silence in which they each looked separate ways, deciding exactly what should be said and done next. Kaito tapped his toe on the concrete, and eventually Sharokku had to shoot him an annoyed look. "Could you-" He never got to finish his sentence due to the fact that Kaito had reached into his sleeves and flung out a large mess of confetti and doves, a large grin filling his face.

"Hello, Beika!" The teenage magician shouted out, and Sharokku gaped up at him with a dumbfounded expression. Kaito looked down at him and winked down at the not-child. "Isn't that the best way to say hello?" He asked, looking rather proud of himself. The people who had been bustling around were now staring at the steadily falling confetti and the doves that fluttered around the area, dropping more confetti from their feet.

"I feel... Like that's over doing it," Sharokku said slowly, watching as one of the doves poured confetti onto an annoyed business man.

"Nah," Kaito replied, waving a hand at the boy as his gaze wandered across the effects of his work. "It adds a bit of much needed excitement to the situation, I think," he said, crossing his arms proudly.

"Ah. I don't think I have the energy to argue with that at the moment," The tiny detective mused, blinking a few times at the mess. After the fifth blink... the area filled with a dull gray smoke and after the smoke cleared... The mess was all suddenly gone. The confetti and doves had just disappeared, leaving Sharokku to wonder how the heck Kaito had cleaned up the whole subway so fast. Apparently, by passers had similar thoughts judging from the renewed chourus of shocked murmurs and gazes.

Kaito nodded once satisfaction showing on his face. "Good. I don't think we have time for arguing. We need to get moving. What's our first stop?" The teenage magician asked a bit hurriedly, and like that the moment was over. Things definitely moved fast with Kaito, didn't they?

"Well, we told Aoko not to make breakfast because we were going to eat out. So, breakfast?" Sharokku said, trying to ignore the sudden growling of his stomach at the mention of food. Kaito sent an amused glance down at him.

"Guess you're right, huh? Any recommendations?" The teenage magician expectantly questioned.

Sharokku thought on this. Café Poirot was always the place he thought of when breakfast out came to mind. He and Ran had gone there many times over the course of their childhood, as it had been easy to reach being right under where Ran lived. It was also inexpensive and their food was quite appetizing. His mouth watered at the thought of it.

He hesitated at first to suggest it. There could be a high chance of running into someone he knew there, specifically Ran or old man Kogoro. Then again thinking it over, Ran would be at school at this time of day and old man Kogoro was less likely to care about his presence. If there was a Shinichi look-alike in the café, he'd probably just choose to ignore it. That clinched it then. "How about Café Poirot? It's reasonably priced with pretty good food," Shinichi grinned at his decision. It would be good for old-times sake.

Kaito considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Works for me! I've never been there before, but it sounds good. Lead the way, Tantei-kun!" He said enthusiastically, gesturing forwards with a sweep of his hand. Sharokku shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and started to walk towards Poirot and the Mouri Detective Agency. Kaito quickly followed, a little bounce in his step as he hummed some song Sharokku was unfamiliar with.

1412

Yukiko happily unlocked the door to the mansion she and Yusaku owned. They hadn't been here for a little while, so even just opening the door gave her waves of nostalgia. She paused as she pushed open the door, Yusaku standing patiently behind her.

"Oh, Yu-chan! It feels like forever since we visited this old place!" She exclaimed, turning back to face her husband, her arms spread wide, leaving the door open a crack. Her husband nodded a bit absentmindedly as his eyes wandered over the large western-style mansion. Yukiko hummed, a small smile playing at her lips as she watched Yusaku.

Gradually, he turned his attention back to her, a smile of his own tugging at his mouth. "It has been quite the while. Shall we check it out and see how our son has kept it?" He asked, his soft voice a bit excited and his eyes sparking with curiosity. Oh, _everything_ was an adventure for him! That was part of the reason Yukiko loved him so.

"You make everything sound like it's out of a book, Yu-chan! Your mere words have me itching for adventure," Yukiko informed, her eyes warm as she gazed at her beloved husband.

Yusaku chuckled at this. "You make it sound like we live in one of my novels," he said, waving a finger matter-of-factly. Yukiko swooned. Her husband always knew just how to respond.

"Alrighty, then! Let's re-explore our house while we wait for our mini-Shin-chan and Kaito-kun to show up!" She exclaimed as she turned and dramatically entered her mansion She stood there in a heroic pose as she gazed at the house and took a deep breath. "It's sure great to be back..."

Yusaku followed her in and passed her, heading straight for the library. Yukiko got a glance of his beaming face as he passed her, eyes brimming with excitement. He was like a moth drawn to a flame when it came to books. It was so funny to see him get all excited over seeing their library again.

Yukiko followed him, stopping near their sofa set and she watched him moving around the library like and excited child. Suddenly, realization struck her. "I just realized that we haven't seen that rascal Kaito-kun since he was a little boy! I can wait to see how much he's grown!" She exclaimed excitedly as she poked her finger into a layer of dust that rested on the coffee table in their library as her husband continued searching the books for who-knows-what.

Yukiko grimaced at the sight of her finger before her and jumped subjects. "Shin-chan needs to work on his cleaning skills," she muttered, looking disapprovingly at the dust on her finger. Her face then brightened. "We should get Kaito to help him! Chikage-chan was always talking about Kaito-kun being a good cleaner," she said, looking back at her husband with a shining face.

Yusaku looked at her over his shoulder from where he had been studying a book he had probably already read over a million times. He shook his head in amusement at his wife's overactive behavior, a smile lighting his face. "Being with Kaito will help Shinichi in a lot of ways, as I think we'll see. They're bound to become better people from being together. Kaito is the lighthearted personality Shinichi lacks, while Shinichi has the calm rationality Kaito needs some work on, no?" he said, humming a bit as he turned his head back towards his book. Yukiko smiled again, swaying a little.

"If Kaito is anything like his father, there will never again be a dull point in Shinichi's life, that much we can be sure of," Yusaku finished with, his face growing a bit distant and thoughtful. Yukiko nodded a bit absentmindedly.

"Well, I think I'll go see how the kitchen's doing. He's probably completely ignored it," Yukiko said after a few minutes of silence, waving to her husband as she exited the library.

1412

Kaito glanced at the menu as he sat across from Shinichi, who had a menu in his own hand and was sipping a cup of dark roast coffee as he gazed at the laminated paper. Kaito sighed, leaning on a hand. He inwardly knew he wasn't, but he couldn't help feeling ignored as Shinichi scrounged the menu for what he wanted to eat. Come on, Shinichi was the one who suggested this place. He should have already decided what to eat.

This led Kaito to wonder why Shinichi had chosen this place. Kaito had noticed it was beneath a detective agency, but he couldn't see any relation between it and Shinichi. Other than the whole "detective" thing, of course.

The waitress (he remembered her saying her name was Azusa) came back around for about the fifth time, a small smile on her face. "Are you ready to order now?" She asked, tipping her head to the side. Kaito could tell from his experience with reading people that she was growing slightly agitated. At this point he hardly blamed her. Kaito shot a glance at Shinichi narrowing his eyes. Maybe he should just say "yes" for him this time...

"Not yet," Shinichi said, not even looking up from the menu. Kaito fell off his chair, exasperated. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the waitress slump, and heard her give a defeated sigh.

He then pulled himself back up and glared at the basically un-responsive shrunken detective. "Come on! You've been deciding for _forty-five minutes._ We don't have all the time in the world! You-" He paused and sent a glance at the waitress. Better to be safe rather than sorry. " _Our_ parents are probably already there!" He exclaimed, flailing his hands around in the air. Shinichi didn't look up from the menu. He didn't really respond either.

"Ummm... Should I come back later?" The waitress asked, and almost pleading tone in her voice. Kaito couldn't help but feel bad for her.

Kaito turned his head towards her and shook it. "Nah, I'll just order. I'm pretty sure I know what he wants. He's just a stubborn child," he said, waving his hand in front of his face. He wasn't waiting for Shinichi any longer.

"A-ah... Okay. I'm ready whenever..." She said, pulling out a notepad and a pen from her apron pocket, a "these-people-are-weird" smile on her face as she looked at Kaito, her head tipped to the side still.

Kaito shot a glance at the minute detective, who seemed to be completely absorbed in his reading of the menu. What could the tiny tantei be thinking? The teenage magician then sighed again, drooping his head a bit. Oh well. "I'll take the breakfast skillet, and he will have... umm..." Kaito picked up his menu, taking a quick glance at it. "He'll have the western-style pancakes kids meal?" He stated it like a question, sending a million glances at Shinichi. Shinichi just stared at the menu, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Yes. That'll be good," Kaito said, turning his attention back to the unsure waitress who finished jotting down what Kaito ordered.

"One breakfast skillet and the western-style pancakes kid meal?" She checked, looking up from her writing. Kaito nodded. "Okay, then. I'll have those right to you," she said, leaning down. "Can I take your menus for you?" She asked, reaching out to grab Kaito's menu.

"Go right on ahead," he insisted. He then reached out and snached Shinichi's menu from him. "Here's the boy's," he said, offering it to the waitress. She took it, thanking him, then left to go fulfil the order.

Shinichi sat there, blinking as he stared at the hand that still looked as if it were grasping a menu. "Huh." Was all he said.

Kaito shook his head. "Wow. Glad you were finally able to join us, Tantei-kun," he said snarkily to Shinichi. Shinichi just blinked at him a few more times, looking confused.

1412

Sharokku huffed, crossing his arms. "I _was_ about to order, you know," he said as they walked along the sidewalk towards his mansion.

Kaito laughed. " _Sure_ you were. I'll believe that when I see your glitter-powered skateboard flying around," he said, in referencing to their conversation from yesterday.

Sharokku just shook his head, turning his nose upward. "And, pancakes? Really? I was more in the mood for something savory," he informed Kaito who just grunted.

"Well, next time, maybe you should decide ahead of time so I can order as such," the teenage magician retorted, hands behind his head as he walked, eyelids drooping lazily.

Suddenly, a heavyset woman burst between them. There was a sense of worry creasing her brow as she quickly walked forwards, calling what sounded like a name. Both Kaito and Sharokku blinked at few times, lost as they tried to take in what just happened

"What's troubles you, milady?" Sharokku started, looking beside him. How had Kaito moved so fast? He was now in front of the woman holding out a rose to her. Concern filled his eyes and he bowed towards her. She stared at the rose for a couple seconds, her hand on her chest, then she accepted it.

"Thank you, dear. I-I- Well, m-my son has gone missing. No one has been able to find him..." She said carefully, sniffing the rose lightly. Sharokku took this moment to walk up and around, coming up beside Kaito.

"How long has he been missing?" The shrunken detective asked, tipping his head to the side as he gazed up curiously at the woman. Both she and Kaito flinched, having not heard the shrunken detective come up behind them.

"Oh... Hello little one," was all she said, her eyes growing soft as she crouched down to look at him. Sharokku took note of her blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Definitely not Japanese, at least not in origin. There was only a bit of an accent in her Japanese, so she had most likely grown up in Japan. "My son went missing three hours ago," she said softly, her eyes brimming with worry.

Sharokku nodded, putting his pointer finger and thumb splayed on his chin in thought. "Ah. Might I ask what he was doing at the time?" He questioned, looking at the woman thoughtfully.

"Well, my maid was watching him, but she said he was playing with our dog, Aoi. She had to go to the bathroom and when she came back, he- he was gone. We haven't seen hair nor hide of him since," she told him, shaking her head sadly. The shrunken detective noticed Kaito was looking at him curiously, observing his actions.

Sharokku made a humming sound. "Have you informed the police?"

"I- No. Not yet. We thought it might be best not to get them involved yet-" She stammered, chewing on her lip.

"You should always immediately inform the police if something like this happens. Have there been any calls or anything of the such?" He replied, eyes sharpening.

"That is also a no. I have a maid sitting at the phone she is to call me if-" She was interrupted by the ring of her phone. Talk about perfect timing.

The woman pulled her phone out of her pocket, swiping her finger across the screen then putting the device to her ear. "Hello?" Her voice only wavered a little as she anwered the call, concern on her face. Her eyes widened in shock as the person on the other side talked, then her expression quickly developed into full blown panic. "Oh. Oh my! Please no! I- I'll be right there! Start preparing the money!" She ordered, taking charge. The woman on the other side said something else, and the heavyset woman quickly hung up, putting her phone in her pocket.

She turned her attention back to the "brothers" her eyes still wide and scared. "We've just received a call. I'm afraid I must go now..." She said apologetically, turning to leave. Sharokku stopped her by pulling on the bottom of her dress, his eyes wide as he looked up at her.

"Kaito-niichan is an _amazing_ detective, Obasan! He may not look like much, but he always solves his cases! Maybe he can help?" The woman froze, then turned to look at him working her jaw as she considered his offer. "He'll do it for free!" He insisted, noticing how her eyes wandered over to the Mouri Detective Agency. She stood stock-still, considering the offer.

Kaito leaned down to Sharokku, cupping his mouth. "What the hell are you doing? I am not a detective like you are!" He whispered.

Sharokku let go of the woman's dress-skirt and smiled confidently towards Kaito. "I'll do all the detective work. You just have to tell them my reasoning, okay? Come on, how can we not help her? It sounds like her son is in really big trouble!" He pleaded, turning to face Kaito's unsure face.

Kaito sighed. "Fine," was all he muttered, standing back up straight, plastering a convincing smile on his face. "My skills are very good. I often help that high school detective Kudo Shinichi on cases! Hakuba Saguru too! Please accept my help," he said convincingly, and the woman gave in, a small smile taking over her lips.

"I guess I have no choice, then. Thanks for the offer, dearies. I can drive you over to where I live," she turned, beckoning for the pair to follow her. Sharokku was practically bouncing as he followed her. Kaito did it quite a bit more grudgingly.

"Perk up, sourpuss! It'll all be fine," Sharokku said up to him, tipping his head to the side with a grin. Kaito looked down at him, eyes filled with doubt.

"I just get a foreboding feeling about this, that's all," he said, rubbing his arm. They then quickly got to the woman's car and hopped in. Sharokku couldn't help but feel excited, despite Kaito's foreboding feeling. This case somehow felt like a whole new start, a whole new thing. It was his first case as Kuroba Sharokku, after all.

* * *

 **TBC**


	9. Chapter 8: Part 2

**A/N:** This actually may end up being four parts... Lets see how many words the next chapter ends up being. I have A LOT planned. Thank you guys for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Also, one-hundred followers! I'm so happy!

Forgot to mention this earlier, but I wrote a quick one-shot on Kaito's diary if anyone is interested.

Thank LadyShadow26 for her amazing betaing and her awesome input towards this story. It would be on hiatus like all the others if it weren't for her!

Without farther ado, lets get this case started!

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Adventures in Beika**

.

 **Part 2**

Kaito, Shinichi, and the woman whom had introduced herself as Ueda Kotone walked into the mansion she and her husband owned. It was sizeable, looking to be about three stories and was more British-style than Japanese. There was a long lawn with a grey marble fountain, and the grass and shrubbery were immensely green. The mansion itself was a white-grey color, and the stone pathway that lead to it stretched on for quite some length. It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the entrance by foot. Well, that was an exagguration, but it sure _felt_ like fifteen minutes.

According to Ueda Kotone, the mansion had been passed down by her husband's father, along with most of the riches they now owned. The husband's father had apparently been a rather famous author, writing many highly-prized books in his lifetime. He had sadly died of cancer a few years back, right after the death of his wife who had died from being hit with a car. The man had run after hitting her, but the police had caught him. It had been a sad tale in which Kaito and Shinichi had offered their sympathies. The shrunken detective had worn a solemn but almost determined look as he heard this story, his eyes blazing in something like anger. Kaito had made sure to take note of it. It seemed like it may be important information on what kind of person Shinichi was.

Kaito glanced around the mansion as soon as they entered, his eyes wandering across potted plants, statuettes, and other such decorations. He was a bit in awe. Large houses like this almost seemed unnecessary, especially if you were only a family of three and one of the three was gone most of the time. He often found himself feeling lonely in his smaller house, so he could only imagine what it must feel like if someone were to live in a place this big... Even with family members. Though she did mention they had inherited it so perhaps that was why.

Shinichi (kind of surprisingly) looked as if he had seen it all before way too many times. He simply ignored the largeness of it, his eyes not even wandering to the high ceiling or the chandeliers. It was strange, but he almost seemed... what was the word... unimpressed with the whole thing. Maybe he had visited many homes like this as a detective... Did people with a lot of money get murdered a lot? Probably. They might even commit murders themselves... Kaito found himself wondering what Shinichi's own house looked like. He didn't know much about the detective as of yet, but he could only think of Shinichi of being someone who lived a life a lot like him. Other than the cases Shinichi got, that is. Well, after this Kaito would find out what Shinichi's house looked like, wouldn't he?

"Obasan? What did your maid call you about?" Shinichi asked as soon as they were all seated with tea brought by the maid. They were in the large living room, which had a very large chandelier and a expensive looking, blue couch set. The coffee table looked almost as if it were made of crystal, and there were little clear gemstones embedded in the table legs. The legs were made of obviously genuine gold. Dang, just how much money did they _have?_

The room was large, but there were statues of people and animals that took up a lot of the space. Various painted pictures hung from the baby blue walls. The marble floor was white, but there was a blue rug covering the livingroom's portion of marble tile. The rug had swirling patterns that were a dark blue, and looked to be made of very fine wool. Kaito had so far gathered that the Ueda family really liked blue and expensive items.

Ueda Kotone took a sip of her tea, then set it down, along with the small, matching porcelain plate the cups were served on. Shinichi did much the same, and Kaito followed suit. It wasn't often that he had tea in a house where the people so obviously cared about manners. Kaito had still studied and practiced them, as he felt that it would be useful for disguises, so he was adept in those terms. His father had also been strict on them when he was younger.

"She called to tell me that the kidnapper had contacted. He informed us that we were not to contact the police, so it is probably good that I ran into you..." She informed, smiling down at the little boy that was Shinichi. Her hands were shaking a bit, and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, you could tell she was immensely nervous, maybe even afraid.

Shinichi nodded, looking considerate. "Can you call the maid in here so she can tell us what she heard?" The not-child asked, his blue eyes sharp. It was almost like seeing a whole other side of Shinichi, and Kaito couldn't help but stare in wonder. The shrunken detective had pretty much just done a personality one-eighty, going from nonchalant and a bit excited to a serious and determined focus.

"Ah, yes. I will do that... Just give me a second," she said, and waved over the maid that was standing next to her. The maid snapped to attention (her gaze had been wandering), turning to face Ueda. "Can you go get Akita for me?" She asked, to which the maid nodded and left the room.

1412

"Could you tell me what you heard?" Shinichi questioned the nervous looking maid, his eyes narrowed. This case was getting more interesting and dangerous looking by the second.

"Th-the man called and said that he had Young Master Ueda captive... I- He then told me to bring three million yen to Beika Park, where he would pick it up after I set it on a bench near an oak tree off to the side..." She paused, taking a deep breath. Her face was pale, and her brow was creased with worry. Shinichi studied her every motion for signs of lying or anything of the sort. One could never be too careful. "He said we should do it around one in the afternoon," Akita then continued.

Okay, so they had until one. That gave them a good chunk of time, as it was only ten thirty, but it could still end up not being enough. It all depended on how fast he could solve this mystery.

"He said he would give Young Master back if we did that... The man even let me talk to him," the maid continued, and she chewed on her lip, looking a bit thoughtful. "Young Master said some strange things..." She murmured, swaying a bit.

Sharokku suddenly smiled, and he gave a small laugh. "That's great! There is a possibility he might have left some clues as to where he was taken in his words. Come on, tell me!" He insisted, rather excited all of the sudden. There was some definite hope if there were clues this soon. Adrenaline filled his veins as he became fully engrossed in the case at hand. He was completely in detective mode now for the first time since that fateful day not too long ago. He didn't notice the odd look Ueda Kotone was giving him, nor did he flinch when Kaito lightly jabbed his arm into his side trying to get his attention.

The maid looked a bit startled by this seven-year-olds sudden enthusiasm, but seemed to decide just to shake it off. "Well, he was talking about how the man loved to whine. He said, 'the ojisan was talking about how he loves to whine! I told him I don't do it 'cause I'm a good child. Then he got mad at me and started blabbering about money and stuff'," the maid quoted, sounding a bit timid. "That was all Young Mater Ueda said before the man snatched the phone from him. Does that give you any thoughts?" She looked hopefully at the shrunken detective, looking a bit unsure of what to think of the child who seemed to be figuring out this case all on his own. Sharokku didn't really care at the moment. He was deeply lost in thought.

"Oi! Sharokku! Is anyone home? Hello?" Suddenly Kaito's incessant voice broke through Sharokku's thought train. Sharokku snapped his head towards the teenager, a glowering expression on his face.

"What do you want? Can't you tell I'm busy?" He asked annoyedly, glaring at the "older" teenager.

"Well, you're kind of... You know..." Kaito tipped his head towards the two women who were staring at the child in something like wonder and worry. Oh.

Sharokku sighed a little, turning his gaze towards the woman. He immediately sweatdropped when he saw their expressions. Yep. They looked really concerned. It wasn't exactly normal for a child to hold such a thoughtful expression over information on a case, was it?

Thankfully, Kaito was quick to intervene. He leaned over to Sharokku and grabbed his shoulders, a wide grin on his face. "Forgive my brother... He's been spending a little too much time with my friend, Kudo Shinichi... And, since I solve cases a lot too, he likes to play detective..." He laughed nervously sqeezing Sharokku's shoulders to prompt him.

Sharokku sent a small glare Kaito's way, then quickly plastered on his child-face. "I'm going to solve cases just like Shinichi-niichan one day! He taught me everything I know about solving mysteries!"

Ueda Kotone's face softened after a spark of recognition at the name "Kudo Shinichi", and a small smile pulled at her lips. "You'll make a wonderful detective, dearie," she said gently, and Sharokku nodded with a grin.

She then turned her attention in Kaito's direction, gaze growing concerned all over again. "Have you figured anything out?" She asked a bit hopefully.

Kaito nodded, the picture of perfect confidence. "Of course. I will get right to you on that, but first may I talk to my little brother in private? It helps me think straighter," the teenage magician explained, getting up off the couch.

"Oh. I guess so... Can you lead them to a room they can use?" She said, shuffling in her seat a little and glancing the clocks direction. She then directed her attention towards one of her maids, and the maid nodded in reply. Sharokku followed suit as Kaito walked over to the maid, and they were both led upstairs to have their private conversation.

1412

"What do you got?" Kaito asked, gazing down at the shrunken detective as soon as they were alone in the guest room they had been escorted to. Shinichi had his pointer and thumb splayed on his chin, and seemed to be lost in thought.

After a few moments, Shinichi looked up, a small spark in his eyes. "There is one lead we can gather from this," he said a bit slowly, seeming to be thinking hard on this information. Kaito watched him, waiting patiently for his deduction.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'would you like some cheese with that whine'?" Shinichi asked, turning his attention up to Kaito.

Kaito thought for a few moments, then suddenly it struck him. "Oh! So that's what he meant!" Kaito exclaimed, a smile covering his face. Okay, so maybe he could kind of see why Shinichi was so addicted to his job. It was a nice feeling to figure this kind of thing out. "I'm a bit confused on how that tells us where the boy is, though..." Kaito added as an afterthought, looking upwards. "It could be that the guy loves wine."

Shinichi ticked his tongue and waggled a finger. There was a wide, giddy smile on his face as he did this. "It's elementary, my dear Kaito," he said with a smile as he quoted his favorite fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. Sheesh, he was almost as bad as Hakuba! Did it take all detectives this long to get to the point? Kaito was all for dramatics, but he wished the shrunken detective would be a bit quicker.

"When the child said that he didn't whine, the man got angry. It's besides the point, but that was most likely because the boy seemed to have no idea what wine was. Anyways, after that, the man started talking about money, right? So we can deduce that the man owns a liquor store of some kind where he sells wine to make a living. He wouldn't have gone to talking about money at that moment if it was some other case. For a bar, they also depend on food, so it is more likely that it's a store. The fact he sells it connected the strings in his mind," Shinichi explained as if everyone should be able to figure this out on their own.

Kaito nodded, his brow creasing. "Okay, I understand that. Are we going to check every single wine store in Beika and maybe even beyond? Wouldn't that be a bit much?" Kaito asked, thinking on it. They wouldn't have time for that, would they? The boy would surely be... Never mind. Kaito wasn't going to finish that thought.

Shinichi's own brow creased, and he placed his chin back in the cradle of his pointer finger and thumb. "There are really no hints as to where it might be. The maid may have forgotten to mention something..." He paused as if unsure, then continued. "If not, we're going to have to go with a different method. Maybe have me waiting around when the money is left on the bench? I could easily hide in a place where he wouldn't notice me..." The shrunken detective murmured.

Kaito shook his head, not liking the idea. "No. We can't put you in that situation. It's too dangerous and risky. We'll just have to hope that there's more clues that weren't mentioned. Let me do most of the talking, though. You were scaring them a bit, Tantei-kun," Kaito informed, and Shinichi huffed with an almost amused look on his face that was crossed with embarrassment.

1412

Sharokku and Kaito went back downstairs, where Ueda Kotone was still waiting on the couch. "Are you ready to share your deduction?" She asked, her eyes swimming with hope. The maid had been waiting outside the door of the room they had just been in, and had led them back to the living room.

Sharokku looked up expectantly at Kaito, who had a small, ready smile plastered on his face. "I know where to start looking. From what your son said, I have been able to deduce that the person who kidnapped him must work or own a liquor store! Now, to get closer to which liquor store it might be, I am going to ask you, maid-san," Kaito directed his attention to the maid, "If there are any more clues that you might have left out. Even the smallest thing will help," Kaito finished, studying the maid. Sharokku resisted the urge to face palm. Did he himself sound so stupid when making a deduction? He sure hoped not...

The maid chewed her lip for a moment, thinking. After a minute, her face brightened a little and she nodded. "During the call, there were sirens blaring in the background," she said, looking a little pleased with herself. Sharokku smiled. He had a perfect idea of where to start now.

"Were there any accidents or anything this morning that might involve the police or ambulances?" Sharokku asked, taking over and earning a small glare form Kaito.

The maid nodded again, her eyes a bit wide. "There was a car crash up over by Haido City Hotel. That happened before the man called me, and the ambulance were around there at the time, I even saw it on the TV as the man was calling. It looked like a pretty big one..." She said, and the final piece of evidence fell into place.

Sharokku gave a toothy grin, and looked up at Kaito. "Kaito-niichan?" He prompted, and Kaito nodded, pulling out his phone.

"Already on it," he muttered, tapping the lighted screen of the tiny device. After a few minutes, he looked up at Ueda Kotone and smiled. "Looks like our culprit either owns Sake Love or Alcohol World. They're the two stores in the area, according to glegle guides*," Kaito said, a proud look on his face. It was indeed hard to _not_ get excited when solving a case.

1412

They quickly drove there, spotting the two liquor stores they were looking for and quickly parked in front of one of them, which happened to be Sake Love. It was a smaller shop with pink walls and a pink heart next to the name. Through the windows, you could see the racks and shelves full of liquor bottles and such. There was a young man standing behind a counter, talking happily with a woman who was digging through her purse to presumably find money.

Kaito shoved open the door and walked in casually, hands in pockets. Shinichi followed him, then Ueda Kotone, and finally the maid who had received the call. A bell on the door rang, and the man and woman both looked up, a bit surprised when they saw the odd-ball group that had just marched into the store.

"Can I help you?" The man asked kindly, a smile on his face.

Kaito shook his head. "Not yet, I think we'll just look around the store for a bit," he said, then the group split up to start searching every possible hiding place. The man and woman watched the group with confused looks, seemingly trying to decide whether they should ask what was going on or just leave it be.

After about ten minutes, the group was still searching and the woman had bought her liquor and left. "Ummm..." The man behind the counter spoke up, and the group turned to him, looking away from the places they had been searching. "May I ask what you all came here for?"

He might now regret that question. As soon as he asked it, there was a puff of smoke and Kaito appeared in front of the man, leaning across the counter and gazing at the man with an intense look. "Do you... Have a wine cellar? Or some other place that you could hide something?" Kaito asked, and the man leaned backwards, an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"I- Of course I have a wine cellar, but that's about it... We don't have many employees, so we don't really have any sort of staff room..." He said slowly, leaning back a little further as Kaito leaned closer.

"I see... Can we look at your wine cellar? The teenage magician asked. The man froze, his body tensing, then relaxed a little.

"I can't allow you to do that... It's kind of like our sacred place, you know? We can't allow just any old customer to go waltzing in there. The boss wouldn't like that," The man explained, a little bit of sweat falling from his forehead. Kaito sighed, shaking his head in something akin to disappointment.

Kaito frowned. "I apologize for taking up your time. If you will excuse me…" He said, then strolled casually back to the rest of the group. Sharokku seemed to be lost in thought once more, Kaito noted. The teenage magician turned his attention on the maid who had been listening closely to their conversation. There seemed to be no amount of recognition in her eyes though which meant most likely this was not the man she had talked to on the phone. Still… "Do you recognize that man's voice at all Miss?" Kaito asked hoping there might be a chance he was wrong.

"I don't think I could... it was rather muffled, and sounded kind of high pitched, like he was using something to alter it... I'm pretty sure it was male, though," she explained, bowing her head apologetically to Kaito who sighed.

1412

They slowly tread to the other liquor store. Kaito and Sharokku kept in step with one another, staying a few strides behind Ueda and her maid.

"Is this usually how cases go? 'Cause it just seems to be getting us nowhere," Kaito said, crossing his arms in a huffy manner.

Sharokku shrugged, smiling a bit knowingly. "Sometimes. I don't think he's there, though. I managed to get over by the wine cellar. There were no sounds of breathing or movement, and no signs that someone who had been playing in the mud before being dragged there was in fact there. He probably just didn't want people to see the limited amount of liquors he had," the shrunken detective explained, and Kaito looked down at him, a bit impressed.

"And, how'd you know that?" The teenage magician asked.

"Eh. I managed to overhear the conversation with the woman we saw when we first walked in. She was talking about how he never had the liquors she wanted, but she liked how friendly the store was, so she kept coming back. I also noticed that there were a lot of liquors that were missing from the shelves, and that there weren't many shelves so that would be hidden. Simple, really," Sharokku explained, and Kaito nodded a bit absent-mindedly. Sharokku was in fact a bit disappointed that there had been no luck with that, but he had also noticed there was no car outside the building, which would make the kidnapping hard...

"That makes sense..." Kaito muttered, staring at their next location. It was a larger building than the last one, but it was still one-story and not enormous. It was a dullish-gray color, and had quite a few windows, with a wide variety of different liquors on the shelves that could be seen through said windows. There appeared to be at least ten customers at first glance. Sharokku studied it, looking for any sign that there might be a child hidden there. He first noticed the couple of large cars, which would definitely be able to hold a child. This place was already seeming more promising than the last one.

They were there in no time. They entered the store, Kaito going in first once again. Less people turned to stare this time, the ones who did merely glancing back then getting back to their business. It was definitely a change in atmosphere.

"Welcome!" A portly man at the counter called with a wide, toothy grin and a friendly wave. Kaito waved happily back, the others soon following suit. "May I help you, today?" The man asked, coming out from behind the counter and approaching them.

Kaito nodded a bit. "Actually, yes. We're wondering if we could see your wine cellar? Then maybe explore the store a bit?" The teenage magician said, getting straight to the point this time around.

The man worked his jaw for a moment, then shook his head. "I apologize, but you can't see the wine cellar... We are in the works of remodeling it at the moment... I do hope you understand..." He said a bit slowly and Sharokku narrowed his eyes. "Feel free to explore the store, though! I hope you can find what you're looking for."

Kaito made a huffing sound, but shrugged. Once the little group dispersed to explore the store, Sharokku made for Kaito, pulling on his pants to get his attention. Kaito looked down, raising an eyebrow at the shrunken detective.

"I think this store is most suspicious, Kaito. We need to look into this. Can you get us into the wine cellar?" Sharokku asked in a whisper loud enough for just Kaito to hear. Kaito thought on it for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay. Let's go find it. I think your right. That man was acting pretty suspicious," Kaito agreed, and the duo went off to see if they could find the cellar.

1412

Kaito walked with silent feet, moving through the part of the store that was titled "Staff Only. Keep Out". Shinichi was beside him making the _most annoying_ tapping sound as he walked.

"Could you, oh I don't know... walk a little more quietly?" Kaito asked in a whisper, shooting a glare down at the shrunken detective.

"Well, excuse me! Not everyone can be perfectly silent like you! I am trying my best here!" Shinichi harrumphed back, his voice a loud whisper.

Kaito gave an exasperated eye roll. "Tai chi stepping. I'm teaching you as soon as we get home," Kaito informed, to which Shinichi either didn't hear or chose to ignore. Most likely the latter.

They soon reached a door that screamed 'wine cellar'. They had passed a couple other doors, which had been unlocked and pretty empty. They went over to the door and shook the handle. Definitely locked.

"Okay, now we need to get in. This is your part, Kaito. I didn't bring anything I could pick a lock with," Shinichi said, gesturing towards the door. "I'm not really even tall enough, anyways," he added with a sour look.

"Why do you think I brought lock-picking tools, then?" Kaito asked, huffing.

"You're a magician. You carry lots of weird items," the shrunken detective replied with a glare.

"I- Kind of can't argue with that," Kaito said with a shrug and pulled a lock-picking tool set out of thin air. Shinichi sighed and shook his head, but Kaito could see a small smile that pulled at his lips.

"Just unlock the door, will you?"

1412

Sharokku stumbled into the room as soon as it was open (which was remarkably fast) and coughed a few times, covering his mouth with a fist. Dang, it was dusty in here. Kaito walked in after him, not even coughing once and looking perfectly nonchalant. Show off.

They both studied their surroundings, checking to see if the missing boy was in fact there. There was lots of wine, and lots of... rodent dung. There was no sign of the missing boy, and nothing indicating the child had been here at all. A mouse scuttled across the floor, right past Sharokku's feet as he stood blinking at the sight before him. So, they hadn't wanted people coming in because of a rodent infestation? Somehow they had managed to find themselves following the universal equivalent of a red herring. There had to be something missing... Had Sharokku's deductions actually been wrong? They had reached a supposed dead-end...

Kaito looked down a deep trust showing on his face. "I trust you know what to do next, Tantei-kun. We've made it this far, you can figure out what to do next," the teenage magician said, and Sharokku nodded, putting his thumb and pointer up against his chin.

Suddenly, it struck him. All the puzzle pieces fell into place, all the lines connecting, and it was suddenly clear. He looked up at Kaito in excitement, his head jolting up from his fingers. "I got it! I can't believe I didn't think of this before! Its so simple!" He exclaimed, shaking his head a little.

Kaito gave a wide grin. "Alright, then! To the next step of our mission we go!" The teenage magician said happily, and walked out of the infested cellar, followed by Sharokku.

* * *

 **TBC**

*Glegle is the Detective Conan version of google. Therefore, glegle guides instead of google maps.


	10. Chapter 8: Part 3

**Per angelwingsonline's constructive criticism and suggestion (big thanks), I have removed the bell and replaced it with a creaky floorboard. I have also shortened the amount of time between them entering and calling out to the kidnapper.**

 **A/N:** That only took, what, two weeks? Sorry for the long wait. Writers block and excessive homework has been drowning me. Definitely a four-parter, so look forwards to the next chapter! On a side note, I keep writing Sharokku instead of Conan in all of my stories... Tantei KID has taken over my life.

Thanks to LadyShadow26 for her superb betaing! She is amazing, and I am an idiot author and probably shouldn't be the one writing this! She completely catches all of my weirdly written sentences and all of my weird ideas that don't belong anywhere. Not even in my head.

Another thing I forgot to put, but I hope Genta's father isn't to OOC. I haven't been introduced to him yet, so I went off of Wikapedia articles.

Just realized I forgot to put added Japanese words... *sweatdrops*

New Japanese Vocabulary

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu- Doesn't really have a direct translation. It means something along the lines of "treat me well" in the sense that I used it in this chapter.

Ano: From what I understand, it's kind of like "umm".

 **Warning: Violent man.**

Thanks for all the support as well! I'm super happy to get all your reviews, and I hope you all keep doing so! Well, here's part three!

* * *

 **Chapter 8:** **Adventures in Beika**

.

 **Part 3**

Following Sharokku's lead, the oddball group walked into Kojima Liquors, hoping to find a trace of what they had been searching for. They were on the right trail, Sharokku could feel it. This had to be it, unless the man had taken the boy out of Beika. There were only two more shops in Beika they could look into that would have sirens blaring in the background at the time of the phone call.

These two shops were by Beika General Hospital, which was the only hospital in Beika, and the closest one to the accident. In conclusion, the liquor shops closest to it were the only ones that could house the kidnapped boy.

"Welcome!" A square-jawed man called out, giving a smile. Kaito nodded in greeting, holding a hand up. Sharokku couldn't help but note that the teenage magician seemed to have taken the position of leader on this case. It honestly really annoyed him. He was supposed to be the one leading the investigation. He was the detective, after all. Well, currently he was damn kid... The not-child grumbled to himself, a sour look on his face.

"What brought you to our store today?" Sharokku noticed that this man spoke in a distinct, old-fashioned dialect. It seemed that would be hard to hide over a phone if you were incredibly used to speaking it, but there were exceptions of course. He couldn't rule out this man being a kidnapper just on that alone.

"I'm doing a school project. I have to look at several different liquor stores and see how they run. Is it okay if we look around?" Kaito explained. For an ordinary teenager, he was sure good at lying... This sparked Sharokku's interest, as he had thought of Kaito as quite honest, though maybe not entirely open. It may just be a magician thing, but Sharokku had a strange feeling about it. He would have to look into it some more at a later time.

The man seemed to think on it for a second. "You might as well. Just _do not_ break anything. Got it?" He said, giving the group a stern glare. Ueda and her maid nodded, looking a bit nervous at the intensity of the man's gaze.

Kaito smiled. "Thank you. Actually, if it's not too much to ask, could we get a tour of the shop? I would like to see the wine cellars and such..." The teenage magician added to his request, now looking a bit sheepish.

The man looked unsure for a second, as he seemed to be weighing his options, finally he sighed. "I guess it can't hurt. Fortunately for you, we don't have much business at the moment," he then waved Kaito and the group over. "Just follow me and do not touch anything."

Sharokku trotted after Kaito. There were now multiple things that pointed out that this was most likely _not_ where the kidnapped child was being held. The man being willing to give then a tour, for example.

Suddenly the man paused and looked down at Sharokku. "You have a child with you? In that case, would he like to go play with my son? They are home from school today due to a gas leak. He has some friends over at the moment, and it would likely be more interesting for him than getting a tour of the wine store, yes?" The man inquired.

Sharokku's eyes widened and was about to exclaim a "no" when Kaito answered for him.

"That would be great! I'm sure he would enjoy that. Wouldn't you, Sharokku?" Kaito asked, sending a glance down at the miniature detective.

Sharokku stared up in a bit of shock at Kaito, his mouth agape. He really didn't want to go. That just sounded like the most unappealing thing in the world. Plus, he was essential for the investigation, after all! The shrunken detective had no idea what Kaito was trying to get at. What would the teenage magician gain from it? Nothing. What would the group as a _whole_ gain from that? Nothing! In fact, it may just ruin their whole excertion!

Kaito sighed, reading Sharokku's expression. "Just a second. It seems my brother is having trouble deciding. Do you mind if we excuse ourselves for a minute? We'll be right back," Kaito grabbed Sharokku's arm and pulled him to a far corner where the others wouldn't be able to hear before the man was able to give an answer.

"Just go. It looks suspicious if you don't want to. We want you to have the best disguise possible and it may be good to make some kid friends in Beika. That way we can come here with an excuse. We don't even know if this criminal ring of yours runs in Ekoda, after all," Kaito explained his reasoning in a quiet mutter. He leaned closer to Sharokku, his gaze intense.

Sharokku chewed his lip, thinking. Kaito definitely had a point. "Fine," he conceded, hanging his head a bit. Even if it was for the best, that didn't mean he had to like it. "Don't mess up this investigation, though. I am going to trust you to look closely for clues, and report even the smallest thing to me."

"Aye-aye, captain!" Kaito stood straight and saluted, a somewhat teasing grin on his face.

Sharokku shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. "See you in a bit, and please don't take too long," he half-pleaded. He didn't want to be making "friends" with little kids longer than he had to.

"No promises, Tantei-kun!" Kaito sang in a cheery voice, bouncing back over to the small tour group. Sharokku stared after him for a moment, then followed himself.

"What did you decide?" The man who owned the liquor store asked as soon as they were both back.

"He'll go meet your son. He's a poor lonely child and really needs to make some friends, even though he doesn't want to," Kaito explained, using this chance to poke some fun at the miniature detective.

The man gave a chuckle. "He won't have a hard time making friends with Genta and his friends, trust me," he assured.

"They're upstairs at the moment. Just take a left at the end of the first hallway, enter the second one, and it will be the second door to your right. Got it?" He then said, leaning down a little and directing his attention to Sharokku.

Sharokku nodded, smiling and doing his best to act excited. "Okay, Ojisan! Thank you!" He waved to the small group and ran to the stairs, footsteps pattering. His body sagged as soon as he reached them and was sure he was out of sight. He wiped his forehead, eyes drooping. This was going to be _fun_. Not.

1412

Kaito watched Shinichi patter away, putting on a childish act. He always managed to do the cutesy child pretty well, though he overdid it some. Kaito was definitely giving him some acting classes along with the Tai Chi stepping. Shinichi had a lot to learn. On that note, it was also kind of worrying that he thought he could run after criminals without even proper defense skills. Kicking things around didn't count. Kaito was definitely working on getting those gadgets as soon as he could, as well. Man, that not-child seemed to be giving him more trouble than a _real_ child would.

As soon as Shinichi was out of sight, Kaito turned back to the group. "Shall we go, then?" He asked, giving a grin.

The man nodded. "Let's. This way. We shall tackle the wine cellar first," the man started walking.

"You better have brought note-taking tools if this is a school assignment," he said after a few moments of silence as he approached a pair of doors.

Kaito nodded, poofing a pen and a notebook into his hand. "Right here!" He called out, waving them in the air.

"Good." Was all the man said in reply, not even looking to see the notebook and pen. He then pulled a key out of his pocket, and got to unlocking the wine cellar doors.

1412

Sharokku quickly found his way to the room. He stood out there for a couple seconds, staring down at the floor. He _really_ didn't want to do this. Wasn't going to school with a bunch of brats enough?

It was but a few moments when the door suddenly opened, and a young girl with a headband stepped out. She was carrying a few dirty bowls, and had a wide, kind smile on her face.

She quickly noticed Sharokku standing there and tipped her head to the side curiously, making a small 'o' with her mouth. Sharokku waved sheepishly, trying not to look exasperated.

"Hello! My name is Yoshida Ayumi. Ayumi is pleased to meet you!" The girl said almost immediately, pulling her head back up and going from her tiptoes to her heels joyfully. "What's your name?" She asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

Sharokku almost laughed at how cheesy it sounded. He managed to stay perfectly child-like though. "I'm Kuroba Sharokku. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," He bowed a little, and the girl, Ayumi, bowed back.

"Why are you here? Are you one of Genta-kun's friends from somewhere?" She asked curiously after a couple of moments.

"No, my older brother is taking a tour here for his homework," Sharokku replied, cringing a bit at how well he seemed to be able to sound like a child and how easy it was to converse with someone who was so much younger than him. It just proved that how old you were (or, in his case looked) really did effect how you interacted with others.

"Cool! We get homework like that sometimes at Teitan, except touring convenience stores and restaurants," Ayumi replied gleefully.

"Yeah, cool..." Sharokku muttered, loosing his child act for a second. The act was harder to keep up than one would expect.

"Ayumi has to take these dishes to the sink. Does Sharokku-kun want to join me?" She asked, clutching the dishes a little tighter her eyes a bit hopeful. Did every child make everything they did this dramatic?

"S-sure, I'd love too," the shrunken detective replied a bit awkwardly. What exactly was he supposed to say to that type of question, anyways?

Ayumi gave a hop. "Alright! Let's go then!" She said enthusiastically, and Sharokku dropped his head forwards with a moan. He could have turned it down, yet he didn't. His mind must not be functioning right at the moment.

Ayumi used the hand that was not occupied by bowls to grab Sharokku's arm. Sharokku let himself be dragged, trying not to care about this whole situation. If he could just kind of block out the whole thing, it might not be so bad.

They soon reached the kitchen. It was sizable with plenty of counter space, marble-tiled floors, and a large kitchen sink. There were a few cupboards and drawers, as well as an oven and a stovetop.

Ayumi headed straight for the sink, dropping the bowls in with a smile. "There!" She exclaimed, drawing back to face Sharokku.

"Now you can meet Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun!" She informed, pulling Sharokku out of the kitchen. "We were just playing on Genta's Wii," she told him as they headed through the living room.

"That's cool," Sharokku replied, trying to sound at least somewhat interested. He had never been interested in video games, being such a bookworm. He wasn't exactly good at them, anyways. He was a bit unsure as to why that was.

They soon reached Genta's room once again. Ayumi opened the door, waving him in with an excited grin. Sharokku nodded thanks, walking into the room. There, he was met with the sight of two boys sitting in front of a smaller TV, both with rectangular game controllers in hand. They were moving from side to side, shouting excitedly almost every second as they continued to enjoy whatever game they were palying.

It took the pair of boys a few moments to see that Ayumi and Sharokku had entered the room. The first one to notice was the thinner, freckled boy. The boy tore his eyes from the TV, looking over at Ayumi who had shifted herself so she was standing directly in front of Sharokku. The boy cocked his head, trying to make out who was standing behind his female friend.

"Who's that behind you, Ayumi-chan?" He eventually asked. The other boy drew his eyes from the screen at this, blinking a few times as he tried to figure out who might be behind Ayumi as well.

Ayumi smiled. "This is Sharokku-kun! His brother is here to do a homework assignment, so Sharokku-kun came up to play with us!" She explained, stepping aside to reveal the messy-haired boy who stood behind her.

Sharokku waved a single hand in greeting, not exactly sure what else to do. He had introduced himself to others before, but it had been awhile since he had been a seven-year-old introducing himself to other seven-year-olds. There was a difference, he knew that.

The freckled boy shot to his feet, leaving the controller on the floor. "My name is Tsuburaya Mitsuko. Nice to meet you," he said with a bow, suddenly looking nervous. He then nudged the other boy with his foot, gesturing with his head for the portly boy to follow suit.

It took a moment for the other boy to grasp exactly what was happening, but eventually he jumped to his feet and bowed. "I'm Kojima Genta!" He said in a louder voice than was really necessary, causing Sharokku to cringe a bit.

The shrunken detective then laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Nice to meet you..." He replied, feeling completely and utterly awkward. Somehow, it had been easier to communicate with Ayumi than it was with these two and he wasn't exactly sure why.

The boy, Mitsuhiko, shuffled his feet. He kept glancing from Sharokku's head to the floor, seeming to be wanting to say something. Sharokku raised an eyebrow at the freckled boy, making a circular motion with his hand to indicate that the boy should just spit it out.

"Umm, why is your hair pink?" Mitsuhiko eventually asked, pointing a finger up at Sharokku's hair.

Sharokku paused for a moment, a bit taken aback. He hadn't exactly expected that question. He had thought he would ask something more along the lines of where he lived, or what school he went to. Yet, the pink hair seemed to outshine all other curiosities.

"My brother likes to play pranks. It annoys the heck out of me," Sharokku responded a bit vaguely after a moment, shrugging nonchalantly.

Mitsuhiko went "oh", seeming not exactly sure how else to respond. Then there were a few moments of awkward silence, in which even the other, _actual_ seven-year-olds seemed a bit unsure of what to say next.

"Let's play Genta's Wii!" Ayumi suggested once the silence had dragged on for a bit too long. She rushed over to the controllers with a large smile and scooped them up. She held one out, facing Sharokku. "Sharokku and Ayumi get to go first!" She announced joyfully.

Sharokku sighed a bit reluctantly, but took the controller. He couldn't help but be amused at the jealous glares Mitsuhiko and Genta were sending him. It almost reminded him of how he had felt towards Ran at this age, that silly childish crush. Not that he had ever let that go. Instead, he had let his blossoming love grow. That blossoming love... that he may never get to express to his childhood crush. It was a depressing thought, and Sharokku had to quickly shake it away. He would confess to her one day, this would all end one day, it had to.

1412

"There was nothing?" Sharokku asked a bit indignantly. Kaito had toured all of the rooms, even the staff rooms and found nothing. Sharokku himself had also checked upstairs as soon as he had gotten the chance (bathrooms would always give the best excuse) to no avail. Now he was wishing they had tried the other shop first. That might have actually gotten them somewhere. Also, he wouldn't have had to hang out with little kids for over half an hour...

"Nope, absolutely nothing. No clues as to a child being held here. We kind of expected that for this store though, right?" Kaito asked, looking a bit unsure as he watched Sharokku's sudden droop in defeat.

"We did... but it would have been nice if there had been some sort of clue, at least. That was pure torture, I swear!" Sharokku exclaimed, waving his hands around a bit for effect.

Kaito smiled, shaking his head a bit at the shrunken detective. "Come now, it couldn't have been _that_ bad. Children are fun. They have such imaginative minds, and see things in a completely different way then they will six years from now. Also, they are the easiest to please with magic tricks," Kaito said with a wink, holding up a single finger and waving it matter-of-factly.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't find the same joy in pranking innocent children as you seem to. To me, this was immensely boring. We had to play some stupid driving video game the whole time..." Sharokku trailed off, feeling about ready to bang his head a million times into a wall. It was official, being a child was the worst thing that could have ever happened to him. Well, it might not be worse than death.

Kaito laughed a bit. "Yeah, video games are the _worst_. Much worse than having to _converse_ with the little kids for a whole half an hour. Completely," the teenage magician replied sarcastically.

Sharokku rolled his eyes. "You have no idea how bad I am at those," he muttered, immediately regretting what he had just said when he noticed the amused look that was now on Kaito's face.

Kaito smirked, the corner of his lip twitching in something like laughter. "So, the detective who can _shoot a gun_ can't play video games?" He teased, eyes twinkling.

Sharokku crossed his arms, turning his gaze to the ground. "I just never had much interest in them, that's all," he muttered, hunching his shoulders defensively. Kaito just seemed all the more amused by this, as he let out a snort.

"Ano… Are we going to get moving anytime soon? We don't have unlimited time to find my son," Ueda Kotone came up behind Kaito from where she had been standing at a distance with her maid. She looked a bit nervous, and immensely worried.

"Oh, yeah. We should go now. We only have one more wine store we can check, anyways," Kaito said, then gave a reassuring smile. "I promise, we'll find your son and bring him back safe and sound," the teenage magician swore, his face sincere. Ueda chewed her lip for a moment, then gave an assured nod, her face determined.

The group then moved out, heading towards the last suspect in this case.

1412

This wine store was the most dilapidated shop Kaito had seen yet. There were a few cracked windows, and the paint was so dull that what once might have been blue just looked like a watered-down grey. The blinds were tattered, and the door was made of a wood that looked as if it was molding. It was almost haunting, Kaito couldn't help but feel. It just gave a whole eerie feeling to the place. He looked up, noticing a worn-looking sign that read "Grapevine Goddess". What a beautiful name. It was kind of sad it was used on such a run-down, poorly cared for shop as this one.

This didn't help the foreboding feeling that was once again growing in the pits of his stomach. He didn't like it, not one bit. He felt like something terrible was going to happen, something utterly tragic. It was all he could do to keep his poker face on. He couldn't let the others know of his discomfort at this point. It was much too late for that.

Kaito gulped as they drew closer to the door of the shop. Unlike the others, this one's sign read "closed". On top of that, when he tested the door he found it firmly locked. This shop was indeed suspicious. It was unusual for a shop to be closed at this time of day, for one thing, and its state for another.

Both Kaito and Shinichi leaned towards the window simultaneously, blocking out the sun with their hands so they could look into the completely dark shop. It wasn't working very well, and Kaito was briefly distracted by both the maid and the woman whispering behind him. They were saying something about how dark and creepy the shop was and how they hoped that the kidnapped boy wasn't being held there.

Kaito's eyes were immediately drawn to the light that was coming from behind a pair of double doors, when he came back to focus on the dim store. He had no doubt that those doors led to the wine cellar. The teenage magician looked down at the locked doorknob. It definitely wouldn't be hard to pick, as it was quite rusted and old. Well, that was his only choice now, wasn't it? Other than knock on the door and demand to come in. Seeing as this was most likely where the kidnapper was keeping the child, however, that didn't seem like the best idea.

"Ladies, please do stay out of this one. Sharokku and I can handle it ourselves," he said, pulling out his lock picking kit from a hidden pocket.

Ueda Kotone and her maid looked unsure, the maid shuffling her feet a bit. "Is... is this the place where Young Master Ueda is being held?" The maid stuttered, stepping forwards with her hands clutched to her chest. "If so... can I help? I haven't done this kind of thing before... but I could still do something, right?" She asked, her face pleading.

Kaito's eyes softened, and he shook his head. "Thank you for your brave offer, my lady. Please do consider that you have never done this kind of thing before and would only be troublesome for us who have. I do not mean offense by this, merely that my brother and I have experience in this type of thing. The best thing you can do for now is go hide with Ueda-san in a place close by," he said in a charming voice, causing Sharokku to raise an eyebrow up at him.

The maid thought on this for a few seconds, then nodded. "I see your point. We'll go wait at a safe distance," she said, sounding a bit disappointed but understanding. She then went off with Ueda Kotone to hide.

Kaito then got back to lock picking, pulling the necessary tools out of his kit. "You've done this kind of thing before?" Shinichi asked incredulously as Kaito did his work.

"Nah, I just told her that so that she would feel comfortable going off to hide," Kaito explained with a nonchalant shrug.

Shinichi gave a nervous laugh. "Well then, good luck rookie," he said.

Kaito paused, blinking a few times. "You know what?"

The shrunken detective blinked in reply. "What?"

"That is the weirdest thing I've hear you say. It even tops the glitter-powered skateboard. It really doesn't help that you're a child at the moment."

1412

They entered the wine store. And, as soon as they did, Sharokku stepped on a creaky floorboard. This earned him a glare from Kaito, to which Sharokku gave a nervous smile. It was an uncontrollable factor, unfortunately. At least, Sharokku thought so.

As soon as they were fully inside the wine shop, a loud crash came from the double doors that most likely led to the wine cellar, and a voice sounded. Due to the thickness of the door, Sharokku couldn't make out what it was saying, but he was sure it was something like a curse.

The tiny detective took a moment to study his surroundings. Grapevine Goddess was honestly quite barren, a layer of dust covering everything but the few wine bottles that were placed on the shelves. The register was an extremely old model, and the wines weren't anything to brag about. He noticed cobwebs in quite a few places. What a poorly kept store, this was... Even the floor was covered in a good layer of dust. Only one line leading to the wine cellar didn't have any of the dust.

Wait, a line on the floor leading to the wine cellar? The tiny detective bent down, looking closely at it. The only strange thing was that it was quite wide. A single child being dragged across the floor couldn't have made this line.

They then waited for a little, Sharokku going over what might have made the line in his head, but the man never came out.

After what Sharokku estimated to be the fiftieth second of wating, Kaito went up to the door and knocked on it. "Sir? Hello? Is anyone in there?" The teenage magician called. Sharokku left Kaito to this, looking around the shop for any hints as to what could have made the line in the dust. That was when he noticed a box of empty glass wine bottles in the corner, a bag laying besides it. Suddenly, it struck him. So that was why the line leading up to the door had been so wide!

"Kaito, this is the place! The boy's here! Open the wine cellar!" Sharokku called over to Kaito, his voice a bit panicked. They needed to act fast. Since the man most likely knew they were here... Well, a lot of bad things could happen. One being the death of the kidnapped boy they were trying to save.

Kaito nodded, immediately taking action. He set to picking the lock, but a frustrated look quickly crossed his face as he did so. "This guy's done something so that it's not only the lock that's keeping the door closed. Probably a chair or something, maybe even more. Heck, he might have even done something even more drastic! I'm pretty sure this guy's despereate. It's going to take me longer than I originally planned to get this open, damn it," Kaito cursed, pulling out some more various tools from different hidden pockets.

Sharokku shifted. They didn't have enough time. They needed to save that poor boy now. He needed to do something, but what? He had no idea what the man was doing in there, but speaking of how heavily he had berricaded the door... That was when an idea struck him. It would be incredibly chancy, as he wasn't sure if the wine cellar even _had_ one, but it was a risk he needed to take.

Sharokku checked to make sure Kaito wasn't paying attention. He didn't need the teenage magician to worry about him right now. Fortunately, Kaito was deeply enveloped in his work with getting the door unlocked.

Shaorkku gave a determined smile. It was now or never. Turning heal, Sharokku pattered out of the room, timing his steps with whenever Kaito made a sound in his lock-picking exertions. He opened the door slowly, watching Kaito carefully to make sure he was still too deeply involved to notice.

Soon, Sharokku was out. He made his way around the building, satisfied when he found that what he was looking for was indeed there, and very luckily open.

1412

Kaito gave a frustrated sigh, putting down his tools for a second as he examined the door. He couldn't damn tell just how many ways the door was barricaded. He had tried many different tricks already, and so far none of them had completely worked. He might as well bust down the door at this point, but he was pretty sure the guy really had done something like super-glued the hinges at this point.

Kaito looked around himself, suddenly noticing the shrunken detective's absence. Where had he gone? Kaito had only been distracted for a moment, and the guy slips off? This was indeed harder than watching a real child. Not that Kaito knew all that much about watching an actual child, having had not done it much in his life. He had done a few odd babysitting jobs for extra money, but that was all.

Kaito studied his surroundings, prodding his memory to see if there had been anything off during his lock-picking. He had put his full focus into it, as the task required it, so he hadn't been paying the attention he apparently should have to the shrunken detective.

That was when a thump sounded on the other side of the door, and a yell that sounded like Shinichi's own child-voice. Kaito whipped back towards the door, panic blooming inside him. How had Shinichi gotten in there?

It only took a few moments for Kaito to figure it out. Usually rooms like wine cellars had small windows that might be big enough for a child to fit through. If Shinichi had managed to get it open and go through that... Kaito could only silently curse. The shrunken detective didn't have the means to protect himself in the least. What had that not-child been thinking?

Kaito turned his attention back to the double doors. He had no choice, he had to break in, and fast.

1412

Sharokku had been pleased when he had made it into the wine cellar without a hitch. He had quickly spotted the man and the kidnapped boy in a far corner of the wine cellar. The boy was tied up with tape over his mouth and the man standing over the boy, a bag behind his foot. The man was holding a glass wine bottle in his hand, and the boy's forehead was bleeding quite a bit. Head wounds always bled a lot, however, so it definitely wasn't as bad as it looked. In fact, the boy was still conscious, so that was a good sign.

There had been a shelf underneath the window, and Sharokku had slid silently onto it, being careful not to make a sound. The man's expression was pained, and he stared down at the child with an apologetic look in his eyes, though there was something a bit angry about it. "Just black out, will you?" He growled pulling the bottle upwards. "I have to get out of here and escape! I can't have you telling them about what I look like until I'm long gone," the man sounded almost pleading as his hands shook.

Sharokku felt like banging his head against the shelf he now laid on at this. This man was clearly not in his right state of mind. It was pitiful, really; that this man was even thinking he had a chance of escape. This wine cellar clearly didn't have any escape routes other than the door that this man could take.

The tiny detective was quick to act, he slid off the shelf, landing on his feet like a cat. The man seemed to wrapped up in his harming of a child to have heard him, and Sharokku quickly ran over to them, taking a leap in front of the boy just before the man brought the bottle down. The man didn't notice, as his eyes were closed, and the bottle came down onto Sharokku's side, fortunately not shattering. He obviously wasn't trying to hit very hard, thank the gods. The shrunken detective could feel the boy staring at him with wide eyes, worried eyes as this played out.

Sharokku couldn't help but cry out as his body hit the floor with a dull thud. Even though the man hadn't hit with much power, the miniature detective landed wrongly on his arm, and he could hear it snap underneath him. Damn, it hurt. Well, it could have been worse, he guessed.

Sharokku managed to use the arm that was relatively uninjured push himself up, panting. He looked up defiantly at the man who was now staring down at him in shock. He wasn't going to lose this battle, not in a million years. Even if he was a child, there must be something he could do to stop this!

"Another child gets in the way? Why is this so?" The man asked no one in particular, and he gave a reluctant sigh. "I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" he murmured, looking up at the ceiling. He then dropped his gaze, reading the wine bottle like a baseball bat in his hands, showing teeth as he prepared to bring it down on the shrunken detective.

He held it up above Sharokku, who had now positioned himself in a sitting position in front of the kidnapped boy. Sharokku put one arm out, glaring up at the man as if daring him to do it. In reality, he really hoped the man didn't do it. If he did, Sharokku would probably lose consciousness. Well, at least he had been able to protect this boy for a good chunk of time. Hopefully Kaito could-

Sharokku's thought train was interrupted when the room erupted into smoke, the whole place quickly filling with the dull-grey swirls. The man froze, shock filling his gaze as his head shot up and he looked around the room. Sharokku couldn't help but smile. Finally, that dang magician had unlocked the damn door. This would be over in moments, Sharokku was sure of it. Then, they could continue onto his parents mansion to fulfill their original mission.

* * *

 **TBC**

 **A/N:** Cliffish hanger? Well, have fun with that. Next chapter may not come for a bit, as I'm going to consider how I write things and how I think. Oh, please do review. Those things keep me going more than anything else. Favorites and follows are appreciated as well. Thank you.

Also forgot to put this in earlier.

To Rockster: Thank you for your review! The word 'wine' and 'whine' do **not** in fact sound similar in Japanese, I just don't know much Japanese, so I can't quite write cases involving that language. Yet. I'll work on it. I'm glad the case is okay, though! I did work very hard to through it together.


	11. Chapter 8: Part 4

**A/N:** Well, this chapter was really complicated, and that is why there is going to be a part five! Heheh...

A huge thanks to LadyShadow26 who helped me a lot with this chapter. She helped me make sure it was just right, and if she hadn't, **DISARRAY!** She also gave me a lot of support and encouragement with it, on top of editing. ^^

I hope you guys enjoy this, and I'm so happy with how many people are following along with this story! Also, you reviewers are amazing. :P

Anyhow, enjoy!

P.S. The bell on the door of Grapevine Goddess has been removed in the last chapter. That is the only really big change. Thank you to angelwingsonline for that constructive criticism and suggestion.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Adventures in Beika**

 **.**

 **Part 4**

Kaito stepped into the wine cellar, throwing down a few smoke bombs to distract the kidnapper. He did it partially for effect as well, but that was besides the point.

The teenage magician's eyes were immediately drawn to the far right corner of the stuffy room. From what Kaito knew, wine cellars needed to be kept at a temperature somewhere between forty-five degrees and sixty-five degrees, fifty-five degrees being considered as close to perfect as one could get. Yet, this wine cellar felt to be a few degrees higher than average room temperature.

Kaito's eyes landed first on a certain shrunken detective, their gazes meeting almost immediately. The teenage magician quickly noticed that Shinichi was panting a bit, as well as favoring his right arm. He was in front of what Kaito presumed to be the kidnapped boy. Kaito noticed that the boy's head was bleeding, but he still was holding onto consciousness. Kaito let out a relieved breath. Both the shrunken detective and the kidnapped boy were alive, thank Kami-sama.

Now, the teenage magician just had to figure out how to save both of the boys. Given the kidnapper's current state of mind he would have to move quickly. Fear was a powerful tool when used correctly, but if he misstepped he could potentially end up getting all three of them killed.

Kaito slipped behind one of the wine racks, quickly coming up with a strategy in his head. He made sure to account for everything that could go wrong with it, calculating all the different routes he might have to take. He was going to make use of his surroundings, and he was going to do it like a pro. After all, this kind of thing was his specialty.

The magician pulled out his card gun, holding it up and preparing his finger on the trigger, just in case. He could hear the man curse. There were a couple of hesitant footsteps heading towards Kaito, then a low grumble, and the footsteps went back towards the children. Kaito took this moment to act.

Kaito cleared his throat quietly, preparing to make use of his plan. The smoke was clearing quickly, and he wanted to make sure that he made use of it before it fully dissipated.

"Step _away_ from the children!" Kaito demanded, throwing his voice across the room. He made it deeper and louder, making sure it was intimidating.

"Wh-who's there?!" The man stuttered, and Kaito listened as the man's heavy footsteps made their way towards where he had thrown his voice.

Kaito smirked, watching from the shelf he had moved to hide behind, as the man walked unknowingly past him. He was now the one closest to the kidnapped child and Shinichi, just in the position he needed to be.

As soon as the man was out of immediate sight, Kaito slipped out from his hiding place and made his way towards Shinichi and the kidnapped child.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" Shinichi said through gritted teeth in greeting as soon as Kaito came into sight of the two boys. Kaito merely shrugged in reply, quickly reaching down to lift up both Shinichi and the kidnapped child.

The teenage magician was stopped when Shinichi shook his head and stepped out of the way. "You need to take care of him first," the shrunken detective said, nodding his head in the direction of the child. "I can get out of here on my own."

"I can take both of you. You're a child yourself, and I can't leave you here defenseless," Kaito argued, giving Shinichi an unimpressed look. "Now is not the time to try and play hero."

"The guy is still-"

"He's distracted! And, if he does try and approach us again, I've got more tricks up my sleeve. You don't need to worry about him. I know what I'm doing," Kaito insisted, not pausing a moment longer. He lifted both Shinichi and the child, the child letting out a small whimper as he did so. The teenage magician gave him an apologetic look, and made sure to get both of the children in comfortable positions. He didn't want either of them to be in more pain than necessary during the rescue.

Shinichi didn't retort, just merely glared at Kaito. Kaito gave a huff, but ignored the tiny detective. He didn't have the time to let the miniature teenager bother him.

The kidnapped child's eyes were now closed as he leaned his head against Kaito's chest. His breath was steady, and his expression was relaxed. The poor kid had finally lost consciousness. That was most likely for the best.

Back over where the man was, Kaito could hear continuous shouts. The man was yelling for whomever he thought the owner of Kaito's thrown voice to "come out immediately". The teenage magician held back a chuckle. His plan had worked perfectly so far.

Now he just needed to keep the guy distracted a bit longer, while they got out of there.

Kaito cleared his throat once more. "I'm over here!" He called out, throwing his voice so it echoed around a bit as to confuse the man to a greater extent.

"You'll never catch me!" Kaito taunted gleefully using a voice that sounded far more like a child's now.

"Show yourself, you demon!" The man shouted out angrily, chasing Kaito's phantom being.

Kaito then took the opportunity to rush out from the wine cellar, making sure his steps were as close to silence as they could get when he was carrying two children. He continued his charade, making sure the man stayed occupied. He had done a lot of things in his life (he was Kaitou Kid, after all) but he had never quite done something like this... If it wasn't such a terrible and desperate situation, he might have found himself enjoying the challenge. Right now, however, he just needed to get the hell out of here.

Now that Kaito thought about it... he really should have told that maid to call the police. That would have _really_ been useful right about now... Well, he'd just have to set the children down for a second and call them now. He couldn't really leave the man unattended, or there was high chance he would figure out how to get away. Locking the cellar doors from the outside wouldn't really be of much use, as he didn't really have the tools to do so... He also had kind of gently removed the doors in his efforts to unlock them. Kaito took a glance at his work over his shoulder, giving a quiet, nervous laugh as he looked at the doorway that no longer had doors attached.

He could lock the entrance, but there was no time to make sure the other ways, like windows, or even another door, were sufficiently locked.

Shinichi seemed to be realizing some of these problems as well, as he gave Kaito a 'what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you?' look. "So... what's the next step?" The shrunken detective asked, pursing his lips and blinking twice.

"You're asking me? Aren't you supposed to be the mastermind behind this rescue?" Kaito turned his gaze to the not-child in his arms, scowling a bit.

"Well... You're the one who broke the doors..." Shinichi glared up at him.

"I wouldn't have had to do that if you had just stuck by me!" Kaito accused, returning the glare.

"The kid was in a lot of trouble! If I hadn't gotten there when I did, this could have been a lot worse!"

Kaito paused, then sighed. "I get where you're coming from. It was dangerous, though..." Somehow, someway, the conversation had taken a turn towards Shinichi's safety. He wasn't exactly sure how it had suddenly became about that, but it had. "You need to be more careful."

Shinichi gave a lopsided grin. "Maybe. Well, we need to keep our focus on just _what_ we're going to do about this. The guy isn't going to stay distracted for much longer..." The shrunken detective informed, tilting his head to where they could see the man starting to ebb his calling out to a nonexistent person. Seemed he had finally figured out that there was no one there.

Kaito paused, thinking. "Do you think that you could carry this child out there to his okaasan?" Kaito asked, setting both Shinichi and the child down so he could pull out his card gun. "I can distract him for however long you need to reach them. I'll call the police, as well."

"I don't know if I can carry him. He's taller than I am, and with my arm..." Shinichi suddenly shook his head, setting a determined look on his face. "Scratch that. I'll figure out how to do it." The shrunken detective set his jaw, going over to stand beside the boy, leaning down. "Just make sure that guy can't come after us."

"You got it!" Kaito exclaimed with a nod, putting his fists on his waist.

Shinichi snorted "Good. I trust you," he said. Kaito froze for a second, briefly reminded that he didn't really deserve the shrunken detective's trust... He couldn't think about that now, he had a mission to accomplish!

Kaito used the time they still had to quickly use his cellphone to call the police.

"We found a kidnapped boy!" Kaito said into the phone as soon as the police picked up. He was making his voice sound more panicked than he really felt for effect, though he didn't change it further. "It's over on…" He then continued to tell the police the address.

"Thanks for letting us know! We'll be right over," the police officer on the other side of the phone said calmly. Then the line cut off.

Kaito then turned his attention to the man who was making his way Kaito's direction, his gaze sparking as he spotted the teenager. Well, it was high time this case was closed, wasn't it?

1412

Sharokku panted, his injured right arm hanging to one side as he held the larger child slung across his back. It was hard to support the child with a single arm, and he was just barely managing to keep hold of the child. Behind him, he could hear the hissing sound of Kaito setting off a few smoke bombs. Kaito and his tricks had really saved him this time. Sharokku was thankful, but it was honestly pitiful.

He should be doing these things himself. He got them into this mess, and he was supposed to be the one that got them out of it. The shrunken detective was just that, the detective, and he should be the one solving the cases and taking down the criminal. He hated that he had to involve an innocent civilian in his outings.

Sharokku looked up at the door, pursing his lips. He was only seeing one way to open the damn thing.

Setting the boy on his back down for the moment, Sharokku pushed the door fully open with one hand and caught it with his foot as it came swinging back. He then lifted the boy, with quite a bit of struggle, back onto his back. He pushed the door once more with his foot, and wobbled out of the building.

He cringed as the door made a loud banging sound, closing behind him, but continued on. He drove himself on with the thought that where he had to get to wasn't far. He was almost there. Just a few more steps…

1412

Police sirens blared, and Sharokku and Kaito were standing in front of Megure-keibu. At first glance he had mistaken Kaito for Shinichi, but after seeing that Kaito had a little brother, thoughts had quickly changed. Megure wasn't one to ask too many questions when it wasn't a case, so just that fact alone had been enough to identify him as someone else.

Now they both stood in front of the inspector, having just been heavily scolded for doing something so dangerous on their own and not contacting the police earlier.

Over to the side, Ueda Kotone was working with a doctor, whom she herself had called to the scene. Apparently, he was a private doctor that they trusted greatly, having no trust for any other doctors. Kotone's son's condition hadn't been too bad, and he was already conscious and chatting happily with the doctor. It was a relief to see he had recovered so quickly.

The kidnapper had been carried away in handcuffs first thing, being taken to the station for questioning. He had already admitted to his reasoning for the crime. Apparently, he couldn't stand the thought that he had been losing his wine shop, which to him was his life. Ueda Kotone had insulted the poor quality of his wine, and what a poor shape his wine shop was in. Her comments had inadvertently lead many of his best customers to leave his shop. So, the man had decided to kidnap her son to try and get money as well as revenge.

After a bit, Megure had left to go back to the station. Kaito and Sharokku would have to give a police report, which Kaito had managed to hold off until tomorrow. They had decided that they would stay the night in the Kudo household so that they could take care of everything that they needed to in Beika.

Sharokku was holding his arm in a fragile manner, trying to make sure no one accidentally bumped it, or that he didn't try and use it. It still hurt like hell, and he really should get it treated as soon as possible.

Kaito sent a glance down at Sharokku, concern swimming in his gaze. "That doesn't look good. We won't know for sure until you get that arm x-rayed, but it might be broken..." Kaito trailed off, working his jaw as he tried to decide what to do. They couldn't take Sharokku to a doctor, as without medical records and the such, there would be no way of getting the shrunken detective looked at.

Sharokku shifted his feet, shifting the gears of his mind to think of how he was going to get his arm taken care of. He didn't really have anyone he knew who could take an x-ray and who could give his arm the treatment it needed.

That was when the Ueda's private doctor came over, followed by Ueda Kotone, who was carrying her child, as well as the maid. The doctor smiled gently and leaned down. "Do you want me to take a look at that arm for you, bouya?" The man asked gently, a smile painting his face. "You can come to my office with me, and I can get that x-rayed and cared for," he offered.

Sharokku watched as Kaito blinked a few times, considering the offer. "My little brother doesn't have any records," the teenage magician told the man. There were really not many believable lies for not having records. It was best just to come straight out with it in this situation.

The doctor blinked, looking as if he might want to question it. After a few moments, he just shook his head. "Eh, I don't think I want to know. Don't worry, I'll take care of the arm either way," the doctor said, and Ueda Kotone gave a bright smile.

"I'll be paying for it, so you two don't have to worry. It's the least I can do for all the help you've given me," she informed, smiling.

And that was how they ended up going to the private doctor's office.

1412

Kaito watched as Shinichi inspected his cast, which covered his slinged arm. He had broken his arm, though it fortunately hadn't been as severe as it could have been. He was going to need to wear his cast for about nine weeks, as the break had been fairly bad, and he had even put a long arm cast, even though the break was in his forearm. It was a closed, segmental fracture, meaning the bone had broken in two (it could be more, but in Shinichi's case, it was just two) places, but hadn't broken through the skin.

It had been a bit tough without medical records, but the doctor had managed to work without them, as Shinichi had told him his medical past in detail. He had addressed all the times he had been sick and injured, to an extent. Shinichi had only shared the times he had been sick and injured up to the time he had actually turned seven. The doctor had been surprised he remembered it all. So had Kaito. That guy had one heck of a memory, rivalling that of Kaito's own.

It was helpful Shinichi remembered all of this, as Ueda had agreed to pay the doctor to make the shrunken detective medical records. When they had informed that he didn't really have records of his existence either, they had both been awfully surprised. Kaito had told them that he didn't want to share the reason, and there had been no further questions asked.

So, they had the medical records for Kuroba Sharokku. That was one less thing to worry about. And, through them, Kaito had found out that he and Shinichi in fact shared the same _blood type._ They were both B-ve. That was just one more similarity between them, other than looks and voices.

They were now walking to the house Shinichi's parents owned. Kaito couldn't help but wonder what it looked like. He didn't know much about Shinichi's personal life, now that he thought about it. Shinichi already knew so much about his through reading Kaito's diary and living with Kaito. The teenage magician only really knew Shinichi's personality and skills. Also that he had a childhood friend that looked a lot like Aoko. That was it, really. Wow, he was really a terrible elder brother. He didn't even know what his younger brother's personal life was like!

Just as they were passing a large, western style mansion, Shinichi stopped and faced the gate. Kaito didn't realize Shinichi had stopped so suddenly, and had to backtrack a few steps.

Blinking a few times, Kaito looked at the gate Shinichi was gazing up at with furrowed brows. "Why'd we stop here?" Kaito asked, tipping his head to the side a little.

"This is where I live, or rather, where I used to live," the shrunken detective explained.

Kaito made an 'o' with his mouth, then furrowed his own brows. "You live in a mansion?" He said incredulously, taking a glance down at Shinichi.

Shinichi nodded earnestly, then pointed to the gate. "Do you think you could open the gate? I can't reach the handle," the shrunken detective requested.

Kaito nodded a bit absentmindedly. No wonder Shinichi hadn't seemed to mind being in a mansion all that much back at the Ueda's. He lived in one!

Kaito grabbed the handle and swung the gate open. Hadn't Shinichi mentioned that he had lived by himself since he was fourteen? In this large mansion? His life must have felt so… empty. Then again, maybe going to school made up for it. He also seemed to hold a close relationship with that 'Ran' girl he had mentioned a few times.

"Are you coming, or are you just going to stand gaping there all day?" Shinichi inquired, pulling Kaito out of his musing.

Shinichi then continued on, leaving it up to Kaito on whether he wanted to follow or not. Kaito chose to follow after a couple moments, hurrying after Shinichi.

Kaito rang the doorbell (Shinichi couldn't reach that, either) and they both waited. The lights were on, and there was a rental car outside, so it was most likely that Shinichi's parents were home.

After a moment of waiting, the door swung open. Kaito and Shinichi jumped back, barely managing to miss being smacked in the face by the door.

Standing there was the woman Kaito presumed to be Shinichi's mother. He recognized the face from a long time ago. There was a radiant smile plastered on it, and her eyes landed immediately on Sharokku. Kaito suddenly had a bad feeling about this…

"Shin-chan! You're so cute with your seven year old body and messy hair!" She squealed, falling to her knees and scooping the poor shrunken detective up into a hug.

Shinichi fought it, pushing against his mother as he tried to struggle out of her grasp.

"Oh, Shin-chan!" Shinichi's mother wailed dramatically, squeezing him tighter. Sharokku let out a gasp of air as she did so, unable to struggle more.

Kaito… well, Kaito was having a _very_ hard time holding back his laughter. It was strangely funny to see Shinichi completely helpless against his mother's hugs.

"Let… me… go. Pl...please?" Shinichi panted, trying to draw in as much air as he was able to between words.

"Now, why would I do that?" Shinichi's mom asked, pouting at her son. "It's been so long since you were seven!"

Shinichi tried to retort, but seeing as he was being squeezed to death by his over-enthusiastic mother, it come out as a muffled "mmph".

In all the excitement, none of them had noticed the girl "sneak" up behind them. Not until she suddenly dropped an armful of fliers onto the ground, her mouth gaping.

"Shinichi?" She said weakly, yet her voice was hopeful as well.

The trio froze, Shinichi's mother dropping her arms and letting go of the shrunken detective. Slowly, Kaito and Shinichi turned around. There stood Ran, tears in her eyes. She was clearly trying hard to hold back, but a few fell to the ground. Her face was a mixture of relief and anger.

"Where have you been?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Things are just getting started! This is definitely quite a project... Heh. It makes it all worthwhile to have such amazing readers. Thank you.

Please R&R! Helps keep this little author-chan motivated. :3

Answering of Guest Questions (thank you for reviewing! You guys are awesome):

To Rockster: I haven't read the fic with Kaito and Shinichi playing Mario Kart... ^^; So, nope. I took no inspiration from it.

To MysticCritic: *spoiler* there will be gadgets. *end of spoiler*


	12. Chapter 8: Part 5

**A/N:** Finally. Its over. This dang long arc done! *cheers* Sorry it took so long to update! Thank you for still supporting me through it, and I hope this chapter pleases you all!

As always, major thanks to LadyShadow26 for her amazing betaing skills. She's been such a big help!

Enjoy!

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 **Chapter 8: Adventures in Beika**

 **.**

 **Part 4**

Earlier that day, Ran had decided to stop by the Kudo household. She had been repeatedly going there over the past few days, hoping, or rather wishing at this point, that Shinichi would somehow show up. He never had. At least, not until now.

After checking the mansion, and maybe cleaning it up a bit, she had been planning on going to hand out flyers. They had a picture of Shinichi in his school uniform, and information on him. She had decided to take this step after the missing persons report had brought in no information on the tufted detective. There was a chance someone had seen him and not thought that there might be a missing persons report on him.

She had heard Yukiko's shout of "Shin-chan!" just as she was turning the corner. She had had a moment of surprise and shock, then her feet had started moving on their own. She had ran as quietly as humanly possible, not quite sure why she was doing so. Her momentary silence had been broken, however, when she came up just past the open gate. She had seen Shinichi's face then. At least, what she thought must be Shinichi's face.

She had felt euphoria when she had seen him standing on the doorstep of the Kudo household. However, that had quickly transformed into a burning rage, as well as a feeling of betrayal. If he was alive and well he should have just let her know! Yet, he seemed to have kept her in the dark, leaving her to worry endlessly about him, losing sleep over it. The nerve!

Ran had dropped all her flyers as soon as she had seen Shinichi standing there, his mom hugging a small child with a cast and pink hair. Ran had wondered briefly who that small child was, but soon, her mind was taken over by one thought: Shinichi. He was there. He was safe. He... had a different haircut.

"Shinichi?" She had uttered. Her voice was met with abrupt tensity. Slowly, the trio had turned around, fixing their saucer-wide eyes upon Ran.

"Where have you been?" She knew there were tears in her eyes, falling to the pavement, she knew her voice was shaking a little. She didn't want the tears, she didn't want her shaking voice, but _Shinichi_ was standing _right there_. The one that had abandoned her, filling her thoughts with worry. He was actually _okay._

Their silence was filled with the chirping of birds and the whistling of the breeze as it blew through the trees. The sunset set the mansion in an orangish glow behind Shinichi, his mom, and the strange child. Ran could feel her tears dripping at a faster pace down her cheeks. Dang it.

"Ran-chan! I'm so glad you came to visit us. And just as Kaito was coming to visit, too," Yukiko exclaimed, pulling herself together and bouncing to her feet.

Ran drew her brow together in confusion, then quickly decided that Kaito must be the little boy. Now that she thought about it, he had the same haircut as Shinichi's new one. They both had strangely messy hair. He also looked strikingly like a younger version of Shinichi. Was it just a coincidence, or was something else going on here...?

Shinichi pulled himself together as well, holding up a hand in greeting as he gave a lopsided smile. "Hi there! The name's Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he introduced with a small bow, flourishing a yellow rose from out of thin air.

Ran moved her mouth up and down a few times, shocked. Was this teenager really not Shinichi? That couldn't be... they looked exactly alike! Even their voices were the same! Was Shinichi actually trying to trick her, lie to her? That thought struck Ran hard. He was always going on about how "one truth prevails" and such. Still, he would lie to her?

Ran's tears were flowing even faster now, and she glared at her trembling hands as "Kaito" gave her a concerned look. She didn't want this teenager's sympathy. She didn't want him to look at her like that.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and lowering his head to try and meet her eyes.

Ran flinched away, squeezing her hands. "Of course I'm not okay, baka!" She shouted, feeling the heat of the moment. "You... you..." She trailed off, sliding to the ground as she choked on her tears. Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot. She really was an idiot.

"Neechan?" The voice was small, and for some reason, it managed to draw her out of her internal despair. Ran blinked a few times, then looked up. Standing right in front of her was the young boy. He was biting his lip, his eyes pained as he gazed at her. What...? There was something in his eyes that was strangely familiar. Had she met this boy somewhere before? She must have. But where?

"Shinichi-niichan... he'll come back. I'm sure he will," the boy promised, rather out of nowhere. It was as if he knew just what was going on in her head, the exact words she wanted to hear. Just who was he? There was something almost surreal about him.

"Wh-who are you?" She stammered out, not being able to hold it back. She needed to know. She needed to understand this boy's connection to Shinichi, his connection to her. Why this boy seemed to be able to read her mind.

"Kuroba Sharokku, Kaito-niichan's younger brother," the boy introduced, his expression becoming unreadable.

Ran gaped. She wasn't exactly sure why she felt so surprised. It could be the name. Yes, maybe that was it. Sharokku, or rather, Sherlock. Shinichi's favorite fictional character and obsession. It felt like it was too much of a correlation to be a mere coincidence. It could only be a coincidence, really. She was starting to overanalyze the situation, curse her imagination.

An unsure expression then developed on Sharokku's young face. At least, it looked unsure. There was something else about it that she didn't quite get. Something like regret, or maybe sorrow?

Ran's mind travelled back to Sharokku's previous words about Shinichi. It was quickly becoming less likely that Kaito was in fact Shinichi. It could be some elaborate trick, but that seemed improbable. Now she was feeling kind of bad… scratch that, she was feeling terrible. She had just called a stranger "baka". There was one thing she needed to ask before apologizing, though..."Do you know Shinichi?"

Sharokku shuffled his feet a little, then nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. He's our, uhm, cousin. He ran into... into... a case. A really complicated case that's pretty far away," the boy explained.

"How do you know that?" Ran then inquired, trying desperately to keep more tears from flowing.

"He stopped by a few days ago." Kaito came up next to Sharokku, intervening just as the child had been about to speak.

"Oh," was all she could say. Somehow, Shinichi had managed to contact his cousins she had never heard of, but hadn't managed to contact her. What was wrong with him? How could he do that to her? Ran bit her lip, turning her face away from the trio. She didn't want anyone to see her cry over this any longer. It hurt her so much, though. She didn't think she could hold back the tears even if she tried.

Suddenly, Yukiko was at Ran's shoulder. "Come on, Ran-chan. Let's get you some tea," she said gently, pulling the girl up.

Ran let her body go mostly limp, sniffling. Heck, who cared? She didn't have the energy to fight it any more. She might as well just go with it. Some tea sounded nice, anyway…

Yukiko patted Ran's shoulder gently. Giving the teenage girl an apologetic smile, Shinichi's mom pulled her into the mansion, using her shoulder to support Ran's weight.

She couldn't help it. Ran sent a glance back at Shin-, no, Kaito, and Sharokku, the sunset illuminating their still forms. Kaito was looking down, but she managed to catch Sharokku's eyes. There was something akin to pain in them, filling the sky-blue orbs. It was probably just her imagination again. He was just a child, after all.

1412

Sharokku clenched the blanket in his fists, glaring daggers at his knees. After the whole mess with Ran was over, Sharokku had escaped to his old room. He didn't know exactly why he had chosen it. Maybe it was because he was most likely to be left alone there. It might be because of the memories it brought back, or the fact that he felt comfortable there.

Whatever the reason, he was there now, beating himself up. He couldn't help but feel that it was _his_ fault Ran had cried, _his_ fault that she had been so upset. After all, he was the one who had followed those men in black and started this whole thing. If only he'd prepared himself more, noticed that the one with the murderous eyes hadn't been there, or even just not gone at all.

Sharokku knew he would never choose the last option. He was glad he had the chance to stop these people with such dangerous weapons and such large amounts of money. He just wished he didn't have to keep undercover to do it.

Ran had clearly been searching for him. The flyers on the ground had explained it all. Sharokku had to briefly wonder whether she had put up a missing persons report on him. That… wouldn't be good. Well, if she had, he'd have to make sure that was changed. They didn't need those men in black becoming suspicious. It was probably better that she knew Shinichi was fine, though he still felt like it might end up putting her in danger. Heck, in this situation, just _knowing him_ put her in danger.

Sharokku clenched the blanket tighter. He was the worst childhood friend Ran could have. He put her in danger, lied to her, hurt her. He wished now that he could be a better person for her. She probably would have been better off with someone else.

That was when the door creaked open. Sharokku didn't look up. He knew who had entered.

Kaito had followed Ran and Yukiko, going to make sure everything went smoothly and that Ran would be okay. Sharokku had silently cursed himself. She deserved a childhood friend more like Kaito, someone who _wouldn't_ put her in danger. Someone who would care for her and put her first.

"Hey." Kaito's voice was only a little louder than a whisper. He pushed the door gently closed behind him, walking over to the bed on silent feet and plopping down next to Sharokku. "You doing alright?"

Sharokku smiled up at him. He wasn't going to let anyone else see how injured he was feeling. Especially not Kaito. "I'm fine, just revisiting my old room."

Kaito quirked his brow, not believing it. Instead of harassing him, however, Kaito merely shrugged. "Makes sense. You grew up in this room, right?"

"Yeah…" Sharokku trailed off, glancing around his room. Heh, it was kind of weird being in his old room as a child again. Except, instead of being filled with kid detective kits, some model cars, various soccer-themed objects, and books, it was just filled with books. There was a single soccer ball, though.

It came out of seemingly nowhere. Suddenly, Sharokku was pulled to the side by an arm that had slipped around his shoulder. He looked up in surprise, eyes wide and he stared into Kaito's soft, strangely understanding, indigo eyes.

It only lasted for a moment. Kaito gave his shoulder a squeeze, then grinned and ruffled his hair. "Come on, if you don't hurry you're going to miss dinner. We skipped lunch, you must be starving! I know I am," Kaito then hopped up, his hand leaving Sharokku's hair.

The shrunken detective watched him as he walked out, staring after him for a second. Then, he cracked a smirk with a small snort. That idiot magician...

1412

Dinner had been tasty, albeit filled with an uncomfortable silence. No one had really talked nor addressed anything, just ate. Ran's face had still been a little blotched from crying, but she had managed to calm herself. Yukiko had undoubtedly wanted to say something at the beginning, but in the end had decided it would be best to leave it unsaid.

Kaito sighed, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair he sat in. Ran held a mug of hot tea protectively in her fingers, while Shinichi was back to inspecting his cast. Yukiko had went to get dessert, at least that's what she'd said. There had been a mischievous glint in her eyes that Kaito had been a bit unsure of.

Every now and then, Kaito noticed Shinichi send a forlorn glance at Ran. He knew it hurt him being near her in the state he was in, but there was really nothing that could be done at this point. She was here, they were here, and they would all just have to get through it. Maybe he could even form some sort of connection with Ran. It would be good to be in contact with her, for multiple reasons.

"So, Ran-san," Kaito grasped for something to say. The heavy quiet was becoming unbearable. "What do you like to do?" Might as well try and find out something they could connect over. That was the first step to building a friendship. At least, in this case.

Ran started, almost spilling her tea. "Uh, well, I like to do karate…" She replied a bit sheepishly after recovering from her initial shock, giving a small smile.

Kaito nodded thoughtfully, then gave a wide grin himself. "That's great! I know some martial arts myself."

Rans shoulders loosened a bit, her posture now less tense. There, he was making progress. "What type of martial arts do you do?"

"I practice parkour." They then lapsed back into silence. Thankfully, it was a more comfortable one than before. He was definitely getting somewhere. Now if only Shinichi would chime in. But no, it looked like he was much too busy gazing at his blue cast, tracing all the lines of texture with his eyes.

"Sharokku, why don't you tell Ran a bit about yourself?" Kaito pressed. Maybe he could get Shinichi to talk about something that would differentiate Sharokku from Shinichi in Ran's mind. "Like how you enjoy eating chocolate, reading fantasy, and playing baseball." He might also just be trying to torture him. Oh well, it was fun.

Shinichi tore his gaze away from his cast and turned it to Kaito. One of his eyebrows was reaching for the sky, and his whole expression just screamed: "What the heck?" Kaito had to stifle a laugh.

Ran turned her eyes curiously towards Shinichi, taking another sip of her tea. "Really?" Dang. She must have already picked up on Kaito being a prankster. She looked skeptical.

"Uh, yeah," Shinichi sent a quick glare Kaito's way, then turned his attention to Ran. "I just _love_ those things."

Kaito was giving that guy some acting lessons for sure. He was good, but he could definitely be better. In so many ways. He just needed to be trained right. Who knew, Kaito might even attempt to teach him to change his voice. Might. He'd have to think on that one. It was a thing that took some time, after all. And with a child's voice, he would only really be able to imitate other children and teenage girls. It could potentially be a very useful skill for him.

Ran didn't look incredibly convinced. Kaito sent a pointed gaze to Shinichi, trying to nudge him into pulling out his better acting skills. Shinichi glared daggers at him for a moment, then just looked resigned.

"Fantasy is my favorite! Especially books with, um, dragons," Shinichi exclaimed. Kaito gave an amused chuckle. Shinichi had such an adorable child act, even if he went a little overboard with it sometimes.

That was when Yukiko came back with Yusaku in tow, carrying a tray of treats. She had a wide smile, her face radiating joy. "How's it going in here?"

"Great!" Kaito responded. "Sharokku was just telling Ran about his love for fantasy," he took a quick glance at the tray of treats, which consisted of a wide variety of things, from lemon bars to truffles. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Shinichi at this point, though he was joyous himself. "And chocolate," he added, hoping to hint to Shinichi that he had to ignore the lemon treats and go for the chocolate ones.

Yukiko nodded happily, tugging Yusaku, who had been about to wander over to a bookshelf, into sitting next to her. "It's been such a long time since I've seen you two! Sharokku was a baby last I saw him. I can see he's grown to be a lot like you, Kaito-kun! He must look up to you~!" She said this in quite a dreamy manner.

Kaito put his hand behind his head in embarrassment, chuckling once again. "Yeah, he's just the perfect little brother, isn't he?"

Shinichi didn't seem to like being talked about in this way. His expression was a mix of disgruntlement, annoyance, and shame.

Kaito plucked up a double chocolate chip muffin, taking a bite immediately. "Mph, tis 's goom," he mumbled while chewing, then swallowed. "Sharokku, why don't you try some?"

Shinichi looked as if he were about to retort, then reluctantly took a muffin himself, his hand only hovering for a second above one of the lemon bars. He took a bite of it, exclaiming in phony delight about how delicious it was.

Ran took one herself, setting down her now empty cup of tea. "This is really good! Isn't it, Sharokku-kun?" She commented.

Shinichi gave a happy nod, looking much more realistic about it this time. Oh, the lengths one would go to for a childhood friend.

Kaito gave a huff of relief. Things had gone better than he had expected. Ran seemed to be a very understanding and kind person. And, heck, she really did look like Aoko. With a horn. What in the world was up with that anyway? Was it natural? Nah, it couldn't be. That was when Kaito swore he was going to try and do it himself someday.

Ran paused, as if remembering something, then her head fell in what looked like guilt. Kaito tipped his head a bit, worried. She peeked up at Kaito, playing with her fingers. "Um, I'm really sorry for calling you baka earlier…" She apologized, looking even more guilty.

Kaito stared at her for a second, then gave a soft smile. "It's fine. I don't mind, I get called that often enough by this little guy," he ruffled Shinichi's hair, much to the shrunken detective's displeasure. "As well as my childhood friend, so it doesn't bother me much."

Ran didn't seem sure what to think at first, a guilty look still lingering in her eyes. After a little while, she just settled on a half relieved look, nodding. Then, she paused again, her eyes wandering to the ceiling. She had an 'oh!' moment, then looked at Yusaku. "I guess I thought it might be good to mention, since you drabble in detective work and all, but my dad just got a letter yesterday. It was written using clippings from newspaper articles, and from someone names 'Asou Keiji', who was requesting investigation."

Yusaku's interest peaked, and he leaned over, his eyes glinting. "Intriguing indeed! What did the letter say?"

"Well, it was a bit creepy. It read: On the night of the next full moon, the shadows will again begin to disappear on Tsukikage Island." Ran explained, furrowing her eyebrows a bit. "We couldn't figure out what it meant…"

Yusaku looked like a child who had obtained his favorite candy as soon as Ran said that. Kaito was enjoying watching the older man, as it gave him some very good insight on where Shinichi had gotten his habits and enjoyments from. He clearly followed his father in detective work, as well as that expression when coming across a puzzle of some sort.

"Ah! Well, that'll be a fun case… I wish I could come myself, but we'll be out of Japan by the time the next full moon swings around. Why don't you invite these two along? They might come in handy," Yusaku suggested, smiling broadly. He sent a discreet wink Kaito's way, which Kaito, of course, caught.

"That would be great! I dabble just a little bit in detective work occasionally, and Sharokku's really into mystery," Kaito's face brightened as he said this, and he did his best to look completely excited. In reality, he was cursing his fate.

Ran considered this for a moment. "I think that would be alright… I don't see any problem with it. I'll have to ask my dad about it though…"

"Great!" Kaito exclaimed happily, going over to her. He grabbed her hand gently, and kissed it, causing her to blush. "It'll be our pleasure to accompany you. Here, I'll give you my phone number so you can contact me once you've gotten permission. We can set up a meeting time then-" Kaito gave a grunt of pain, interrupting what he had been about to say.

"Stop. Flirting. With. Ran-neechan, barou!" Shinichi growled, digging his heel hard into Kaito's toes. Kaito scowled down at him, clenching his teeth. "You have your own girlfriend, remember?"

"First of all, Aoko is _not_ my girlfriend. Second, I was only trying to be friendly!" Kaito whined in response, lifting his foot so Shinichi's own fell off of it. Shinichi almost toppled over, catching his balance at the last minute.

"Well, we'll just show up on the island on the day of the full moon! You don't need to give her your phone number," Shinichi retorted, harrumphing.

"It still might be useful…" Kaito muttered, pouting down at his younger brother.

Shinichi just kept a firm stance, crossing his arms.

They were both shocked out of their argument when there was a sudden giggling, coming from _Ran._ They both turned to face her, wide-eyed. "Sorry, it's just that… you two… are so funny. It's like Sharokku-kun's the older brother here," she beamed.

Kaito and Shinichi blinked owlishly at Ran, tipping their heads to the side in unison. "Oh," Kaito said, not exactly happy that this was the case. Damn, Shinichi needed to act more kid-like! They had let their guard down.

"Anyway, I better get home. I'll just give you my phone number." Ran took a small notebook out of the purse she had been wearing along with a pen, scribbling down her phone number and tearing the paper out. She then handed it to Kaito, who accepted it graciously before Shinichi could have any chance to protest.

1412

Ran closed the gate to the Kudo household behind her, gazing at the large mansion for a couple seconds before continuing on her way home.

She stared up at the sky, hands behind her back as she walked. She was honestly kind of sad to part with Kaito and Sharokku… At least she had given them her phone number. They were definitely entertaining and fun to be around. It still kind of disappointed her that Shinichi hadn't been there, though… She had been so hopeful as soon as Yukiko had called out, "Shin-chan!"

Speaking of that, who had Yukiko been calling "Shin-chan"? He hadn't been there, obviously. She had been hugging Sharokku at the time, not Shinichi. Ran must have just mistaken "Sharo-chan" for "Shin-chan", or something like that.

Unless… was it possible for someone to shrink? Ran shook her head, clearing her thought train. Who was she kidding, that was only something that happened in fiction novels. There was no way Shinichi had been shrunken and become Sharokku. It was more likely that Kaito was Shinichi in disguise than that.

Ran continued on, letting go of her pondering over the matter. It was obvious Shinichi and Kaito were different people, and shrinking wasn't possible. She was taking things much too far.

…

"By the way, Shin-chan, why do you have a cast?" Yukiko inquired curiously, kneeling down and poking it gently.

Shinichi shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, we ran into a kidnapping case before this. The criminal hit me with a wine bottle," he explained, pursing his lips a bit.

Yukiko put her hands up in over-dramatic shock. "Oh, my poor Shin-chan! Those mean criminals," she exclaimed, drawing him into a hug. Shinichi just hung limply in his mother's grasp, looking mildly irritated.

Kaito gave a nervous laugh, feeling a bit sorry for the shrunken detective. It had definitely been a long day, and he was back to being squeezed by his mother. Kaito himself was ready to just collapse onto a bed of any kind and catch some z's. "Yeah, it was a pretty long day… On that note, we got medical records from the doctor who worked on Shinichi's arm. He was a private doctor who worked with the kidnapped kid and his mother," Kaito informed, then gave a large yawn. "So, you don't need to worry about those."

Yukiko looked up at Kaito. "That's great! Well, Yusaku and I have the other papers pretty much prepared, so we'll give those to you when you leave in the morning. For now take Shin-chan," she stood up straight, taking poor Shinichi up with her, then handed him to Kaito. "And go get some rest in Shin-chan's room. There's a sleeping bag in the closet."

Kaito nodded, putting Shinichi down. "Sounds good, see you in the morning." He yawned once again, waving his hand in front of his mouth as he turned and headed towards the room, and exhausted shrunken Shinichi following suit.

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 **A/N:** How was it? Pleasing? Please tell me in a review! And thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed as of yet. It's a striking amount, and I'm so happy to have your support! *heart*

Answering of Guest Questions (thank you so much for your reviews, they really do mean a lot to me):

To Rockster: Yeah, according to research I have done (forum posts!) Shinichi is bloodtype B. I thought it was O at first, but apparently not! All the quizes say it's A for some reason as well... But, I'm pretty sure it's B (B-ve according to the Symbol of Faith).


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